Do you think Spain would fair better than Russia against Ukraine ?
But you’re not taken into account how many men Russia is losing to maintain that level of aggression. It’s compensating its small GDP with humans.
Spain would never do that and thus fail.
How exactly is their economy "strong"? By what measure? You cannot really eat tanks, that is what made life in the Soviet Union unsatisfactory as well.
Current price of Ural oil is some 9 dollars above their breakeven costs. As the classic says, not great, not terrible.
Industry focused economies are going to continue to come under pressure due to automation. The US for example has a lot of industrial output, but shrinking industrial jobs. And that’s a good thing. Sending people into coal mines should never be a long term plan.
idk man, France's economy minister said he would bring "russia on its knees" economically, 3 years later it's still not anywhere close to being a reality, the minister isn't here anymore tho.
Put half of the sanctions on spain and it would fold in a month
On its own? Sure. (Although to be fair to Spain, they've invested heavily in solar and high-value agriculture in recent years).
But seen as part of a system with Germany and perhaps the UK (no longer part of the EU, but was better for both when they were), it's a valuable part of quality-of-life in the overall economic bloc.
Where would you rather live? Spain, easy.
Who would win in a war? Russia, easy.
Some will read this as an argument against the Spanish lifestyle. On balance I prefer to read it as an argument against war.
Really? Russia has not even done all that well against Ukraine, a much smaller economy.
What sort of war? I agree Spain could not successfully invade Russia, on the other hand Russia could not invade Spain either. No working aircraft carriers so their air force would be operating from very distant bases (even if they were allowed to pass over the countries in between), limits on ability to land large numbers of troops, etc.
> no longer part of the EU, but was better for both when they were
I do not understand why you even mention that as the EU does not have a military, NATO is relevant and the UK is in NATO.
Its a matter of opinion. I think the UK is at least as well off (growth has been similar to comparable economies like France and Germany since Brexit) without even seeing the long term benefits AND the EU is better off as the UK was a major impediment to the political integration the Euro zone needs.
Spain army's is 1/10th of Ukraine's and basically haven't been in anything close to a war in decades, so yes, really and easily lmao.
Ukraine alone produces more military drones per month than the entire EU per year btw.
They do not have a border with Russia so how could Russia get their army to Spain?
Ukraine has armed forces geared to fight a land war with Russia. How do Ukraine's air force and navy compare to Spain's?
> Ukraine alone produces more military drones per month than the entire EU per year btw.
Because they are in a war. You cannot compare fully geared up war time production to peacetime production. What was Ukraine's drone output prior to the current Russian invasion?
Everybody mocked Russia for having the same gdp as Spain. As it turns out your economy is much stronger when it's focused on heavy industries, steel, mining, oil, &c. Than when it is focused on tourism and other services
One produces value, the other generates money, when shits hit the fan you need energy, the drunk brits coming in your strip clubs aren't that useful anymore