Their single-minded pursuit of self-reliance has led to enormous suffering and, ironically, a strong dependence on a few other countries to keep them afloat. Th

Their single-minded pursuit of self-reliance has led to enormous suffering and, ironically, a strong dependence on a few other countries to keep them afloat. The extreme economic hardships mean they have a tough time deterring aggression (a quarter of their GDP goes to the military and, even so, the nukes are the only reason anyone takes them seriously). Consider a world where they followed a similar path to countries like China and Vietnam. Their people would be a lot better off, they’d have a much stronger military, and they’d be able to be much more of an equal partner with their allies.