Comments by "Hyok Kim" (@hyokkim7726) on "Are Finland u0026 Sweden Prepared for War?" video.

  1. 03:59 In real total war, especially when one is losing, they all resort to conscription. Personally, my belief is that all volunteer military sounds good in peace time, or when one is not engaged in existential conflict, but to prepare a nation for the optimal defense in all conditions, especially in existential conflict, should always include some amount of conscription. It could be synchronized to the state of economy or employment, so that in boom times, minimum conscription, in recession, more than usual, in depression, total war level conscription. Also, it wouldn't be too bad to have some PMCs as well, so that some hardcore veteran troops who got sick of military crap can still offer their skills without having to engage in politicking. 04:05 Yes, all true, however, like I had said, in real, total war, especially in an existential conflict, they all resort to conscription. So it's better to learn to deal with it in peace time, how to use these poorly motivated and trained troops for maximum effectiveness in a hurry. This way, one will have more realistic assessment of the true capability of the troops, rather than relying on just paper strength. 08:23 They have been buying ROK K9s, 1st gen used, but refurbished. They like it. 09:37 On the subject of unit cohesion, and 'the will to fight', they are force multi-pliers, but they are also very over-rated. They can be relevant in tactical realm, but far less so in the strategic realm. Germany and Japan had very high unit cohesion, higher than U.S. U.S. still won the war, thanks to superior grand strategy, and competent enough operational strategy, and far superior logistics. You do not go to war to win battles, you fight battles to win wars. 09:48 Oh, yes! I regard the Finns the best general purpose conscript troops in the world. During WW2, after the Finns switched the side, they ended up fighting the Germans, who slightly outnumbered the Finns, and most definitely outgunned the Finns, yet the Finns still managed to beat the Germans. Finns excel in small unit tactics, individual initiative, resourcefulness, tenacity. 11:00 Oh, I don't know about that one. Ireland had an excellent neutral strategy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_neutrality_during_World_War_II#Policy ... and of course, the Swiss as well. 13:28 Let's get real. If NATO launched a naval blockade of Russian shipping, that would mean a nuclear war. Whether Sweden joined the naval blockade against Russia would be a moot point. 14:39 Excellent point. Objective as well. It's not in the interest of Sweden to go for an offensive operation against Russian Federation, with or without NATO. 15:06 Please, let's be objective on this one. I do agree that Russia had not and has not been an innocent on this one. On the other hand, Russia had been a victim of unprovoked invasions by many throughout history as well. First, the Mongols, then came others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish%E2%80%93Novgorodian_wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_on_the_Ice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_invasion_of_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_invasion_of_Russia 16:37 Yes, I heard about that one. So has ROK. '' In the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, the world’s largest international maritime exercise, South Korea’s existing submarines have demonstrated their capacity to successfully detect and destroy nuclear-powered submarines, including the most advanced U.S. Ohio-class SSBNs.'' https://www.nbr.org/publication/a-race-for-nuclear-powered-submarines-on-the-korean-peninsula/ 19:02 Not so fast. There is Erdogan, the Turkish strongman objects. He wants Sweden and Finland to kick out PKK and their affiliates, and no more embargoes of any kind against Turkey. Turkey has a veto power. My bet is Erdogan is looking for a deal, either from U.S., F-35 sales, or who knows what Putin has to offer if Erdogan blocks Finland, Sweden? https://news.yahoo.com/erdogan-sweden-finlands-nato-bid-152307023.html Turkey is also very dependent on Russian imports. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34973181#:~:text=Turkey%20relies%20almost%20entirely%20on%20imports%20for%20its,to%20Turkey%2C%20representing%2056%25%20of%20its%20total%20consumption. I think you might want to take a look at a book that is considered 'the Bible' of Putin, Russian top elite, and military. 'Foundation of Geopolitics' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Dugin Btw. the book keeps getting updated. I was shocked how prescient the book was in following the current deal with Ukraine. Based on my understanding of the strategy laid out in the book, and what's going on in current situation in Ukraine, the main target is not military, but financial/economic, Ukraine is really more of a bait/side show. Russian aim is basically to damage or even dismantling of NATO/EU, by provoking internal feuds among member states, and between U.S. and NATO/EU, primarily by weaponizing energy as the vector. If U.S. and NATO/EU keep supporting Ukraine at the rate they do now, it will cause at least financial if not economic collapse of the West. In that case, no more support for Ukraine, who will be done in a few months, without much fighting. https://invezz.com/news/2022/05/16/russian-ruble-worlds-best-performing-currency-this-year/ The current sanction against Russian federation reminds me of the Continental Blockade imposed by Napoleon against Britain, which eventually led to the fall of Napoleon, and guess who gets to play the Napoleon this time, not Putin, but the West! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_System Right now, this sanction is causing a two tier oil price market, one for the West, and the other for the rest of the world. The West gets to pay far higher price for the oil, the rest of the world pay far lower, which will put the West at a severe economic disadvantage, the longer the sanction lasts. OPEC, Venezuela will prioritize selling/overcharging oil to the West, that means Russian Federation will dominate the oil market for the rest of the world. Russia will increase oil/gas export to the rest of the world to compensate the coming loss from the West, just like British had done, increasing the trade outside Europe to the rest of the world during the Continental blockade imposed by Napoleon, and this led to severe economic problems for some members of the Napoleonic coalition, notably, Portugal and Russia, who decided to abandon the blockade, and this led to Napoleon's Peninsular campaign, and the invasion of Russia, the twin wars that ended up costing Napoleon's empire. One can speculate the similar outcome for the West, and I think this is the real battle that matters, not the sideshow that's going on in Ukraine, or whether Sweden and Finland get to join NATO or not. Here are the signs. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/russia-jumps-4th-position-oil-supplier-india-tanker-data-2022-05-17/ https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/exclusive-india-to-approach-russia-for-concessions-on-sunflower-oil-imports/ar-AAX4Kdc?ocid=uxbndlbing Dugin's wildest dream about to come true. ''Everyone who follows him, including me, anticipated when the sanctions were announced that he’d be pleased by them. Just yesterday, for example, amid news about the internet being managed, he came out and said, “Oh, this is fantastic. This is great.” I think he’s probably in a stronger position now. I don’t think that you’re going to see — and this is one criticism of the sanctions — you’re not going to see everybody turn on Putin for this reason. In many cases you’re probably going to see them rally in defiance and embrace a new identity. That will be the one way that they can maintain some dignity in the face of some severe economic conditions. So that will strengthen him. And it will strengthen this cause: of creating this island, an island of Russia. What will happen with Traditionalists in the future? It’s ultimately very tied up with individuals, because this is not a mass movement.'' https://jacobinmag.com/2022/03/aleksandr-dugin-putinism-reactionary-prophet-russian-ultranationalism-traditionalism https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-aims-to-cripple-russian-oil-industry-officials-say/ar-AAXufHA?ocid=uxbndlbing https://bigworldtale.com/world-news/south-korea-shamed-for-buying-bargain-russian-oil-oil-tanker-data-revelation/ Also, if this sanction continues, and Putin's demand to be paid in rubles works, and so far it's working splendidly, it will do serious damage to USD as the last, only, exclusive reserve currency of the world to the point, it will become a co-reserve currency along with rubles in the rest of the world sans EU/NATO. This means U.S. can no longer borrow money at cheap rates from others, corollary is that Russian Federation can borrow money that much cheaper. It will help Russian Federation financially/economically, while damaging U.S. economically and financially. Also, the food crisis, Ukraine will be the biggest loser on this one, Russia the biggest winner. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-accuses-russia-of-holding-the-worlds-food-supply-hostage-it-comes-as-experts-warn-that-cyber-attacks-could-impact-global-supply-chains/ar-AAXv3LA?ocid=uxbndlbing Russian Federation is slowly choking the economic foundation of the West, which could lead to dismantle of NATO/EU. I think this is what Putin and Dugin really may have had in mind, not the sideshow tactical razzle dazzle in Ukraine. Biden is nuts if he thinks he can get others to ban Russian oil. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/597882-here-are-the-countries-that-import-the-most-russian-oil/
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  2.  @Keisarifi  Quality vs. Quantity, what matters in the end is not efficiency, but effectiveness. The total effective military projection as far as human assets are concerned is quality multiplied by quantity, neither quality nor quantity alone. I'd rather have enough shitty troops than not enough outstanding troops.
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