Sanctions on Russia
in War in Ukraine ·
George Lewis9 said:You've gone a bit off the deep end there. To create a demand for things like BMWs or Intel chips, you first need a massive population base. And to sustain that population, you need a solid agricultural foundation—which, let's face it, isn't possible today without modern machinery. Unlike North Korea, Russia can actually produce its own machinery using its own natural resources, expertise, and labor force. At least in that regard, they don't need to import a thing.
They can handle automobile production on their own, too.
Electronics is where the real headache starts—they lack both the technical know-how and the fabrication plants. Sanctions would hit hard there, but only if everyone actually stuck to them (and by "everyone," I mainly mean China).You aren't just mistaken; you're flat-out wrong. Under successive Kim regimes, the North Korean leadership viewed nuclear weapons as their only real guarantee of survival. It wasn't sanctions that drove Kim to build nukes; rather, the sanctions were a reaction to Kim's policy of regime preservation.
There's room for debate here. Back during the Clinton administration, North Korea actually agreed to dismantle its atomic program. In exchange, they were supposed to receive two nuclear reactors for power generation, a heap of refined fuel for thermal plants, and normalized relations. Instead, under Bush, they were slapped with the "axis of evil" label. So, they just kept going with the atomic program.
Look, anyone can aim for self-sufficiency, but there's a massive difference between being self-sufficient on a European scale versus being isolated like South Korea. Which way do you think Russia is leaning...?