We should all be embarrassed that a nation of 26 million people with an economy smaller than many individual Canadian provinces is still managing to do more for Russia than the entire immense potential power of the Western world has done for Ukraine.
When assessing the raw power of a nation, looking at pure production capacity is not enough.
We must also look at how willing a country is to use its production capacity and direct it towards military ends.
A country or group of countries that have succumbed to a naive ‘hope for the best’ attitude may have incredible potential power, but they will utilize very little of that potential, while a small dysfunctional nation may maximize its potential military strength and thus outdo countries that – on paper – should be able to overwhelm it.
With this in mind, it’s impossible to avoid the conclusion that something has gone very wrong in the free world.
In short, we have chosen weakness.
Consider the following.
Ukraine – one of the few Western nations that exemplifies strength right now – is ostensibly backed by Canada, the UK, most European Union nations, and the United States. Even if we take the US out of the picture, that leaves us with a GDP of about $35 trillion in Canadian Dollars.
Meanwhile, the GDP of North Korea is between $30-$40 billion CAD, less than the GDP of Manitoba (roughly $90 billion).
In terms of population, Canada, the UK, and the EU have a population of around 560 million, dwarfing North Korea’s population of around 26 million.
Yet, North Korea has provided up to 6 million artillery shells to Russia for use against Ukraine, while Canada, the UK, and the EU combined have sent roughly 2 million.
Let’s not mince words here. This is pathetic.
The same holds for the delivery of tanks, air defence, and other vital equipment. Despite immense potential military-industrial power, the West has given Ukraine mostly scraps of aging equipment and deliveries of tanks and fighter jets that often number in the 10s, rather than the hundreds.
And it gets worse.
North Korea has already sent thousands of troops to fight alongside Russia against Ukraine, and will soon be sending up to 30,000 more.
“North Korea is set to triple the number of its troops fighting for Russia along the front lines with Ukraine, sending an additional 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers to assist Moscow, according to an intelligence assessment from Ukrainian officials.
The troops may arrive in Russia in the coming months, according to the assessment seen by CNN, adding to the 11,000 sent in November who helped repel Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Around 4,000 of those North Korean soldiers were killed or injured in the deployment, according to Western officials, yet Pyongyang’s cooperation with Moscow has since bloomed.
A Western intelligence official confirmed the estimate, saying they had seen information separate to the Ukrainian assessment which suggested up to 30,000 new North Korean troops could be sent to Russia.”
This is the stark reality of Western weakness. No Western nation has sent troops to Ukraine. Western nations haven’t even sent aircraft in to shoot down Russian missiles and drones within Ukrainian territory.
Meanwhile, little North Korea sends tens of thousands of troops to assist Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and floods Russia with artillery shells.
This is why I talk about the need for rearmament and military strength so often. Many in the West feel secure due to our significant economic and technological power, but that power means nothing if we don’t use it. We have become so naive and so complacent that North Korea is a better ally to Russia than we are to Ukraine.
So, while rearmament requires a shift in budgets and priorities, it must also be accompanied by a shift in our mindset. We must prioritize military strength and ensure that hostile nations fear our power and are incentivized to pursue peace rather than invade sovereign nations.
Spencer Fernando
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