Spoiler: This is the English version of a letter to Borås Tidning which was published 5 May 2024. The letter is inspired by an op-ed by Anastassia Fedyk and Tatyna Deryugina in Project Syndicate 24 April: “Ukraine is far from doomed“. Comparisons of the kremlin should be mady by the Nazis. The Nazis were defeated by the Allies who not only had more resources but also a stronger will.
A Ukrainian battle cat on his/her way to kick some fascist arse.
Source. Ego with the help of generative AI.
On May 8, the victory over the Nazis is celebrated in Europe. Rejoicing in Europe was great when the Nazis finally signed the terms of surrender on this day in 1945. But just a few years earlier things looked bleak. The Nazis initially had great success and in the government buildings of many countries, many foreheads frowned
In 1941, political leaders were in doubt about the possibilities of defeating the Nazis who then occupied the Benelux, France, Denmark, Norway and large parts of Eastern Europe. The occupations of these areas also meant that the Nazis increased their financial resources and were able to produce more weapons.
In the end, the Nazis were defeated because the combined financial resources of the Allies exceeded those of the Germans. Larger and more efficient factories produced the weapons needed to defeat the Nazis on both the Eastern and Western fronts.
The situation is similar now. But, as the two economists Anastassia Fedyk and Tatyana Deryugina show in Project Syndicate 24/4, the conditions are better now than then. Unlike the German Nazis, the kremlin has not succeeded in seizing crucial parts of Ukraine's economic resources. In relative terms, the russian industry is smaller than that of the EU and the US than Germany's was in 1941. Without support from Iran and China, russia cannot produce weapons at the rate needed to occupy Ukraine.
The conditions for throwing the russian fascists out of Ukraine and defeating them fundamentally, are threfore very good. We can do that by, together with other countries, greatly increasing the production of weapons and ammunition.
The governments and industries need to cooperate more and faster to end this war as soon as possible. Firms need to undertake large investments to increase production. They will be more willing to do that if governments make long term commitments to buy their ammuniton and weapons. In addition, the public regulatory framework for the construction and planning process must be greatly simplified as well as environmental review processes. The kind that the fascist dictatorship in Russia doesn't have to worry about.