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Janne M. Korhonen (@jmkorhonen@mastodo.fi)

Jan 19

Why #Ukraine needs tanks, artillery, and other heavy weapons - and why the rumors of the death of the tank have been and will be greatly exaggerated?

Being a layman myself, I'll try to explain the importance of heavy weapons in layman's terms and with fancy graphics. 1/

Ultimately, a modern battle is all about yeeting nasty, often explosive things at the other guy.

Tactical skills and leadership are ultimately valued because they help yeet more things, faster, and more accurately, and survive when the other guy yeets things at you. 2/

Training, skills, and motivation are extremely valuable. A more skilled and motivated force can win even with inferior equipment and numbers.

But skill and willpower alone are never enough. They have to be combined with sufficient quantities of weapons and ammunition. 3/

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Janne M. Korhonen (@jmkorhonen@mastodo.fi)

@jmkorhonen

Jan 13

#CeterumCenseo Russia must be defeated.

Europe and the rest of the democratic world should collectively realize, soonest, that #Ukraine has now put #democracy and its idea of collective security to a test: can autocratic states overrun smaller democracies one by one, or not?

Democracies are inherently not well suited for territorial and resource aggrandizement. But autocracies can be.

On the other hand, democracies ARE inherently well-suited for human rights and liberty. They are good in itself, but also promote scientific and economic development.

Democracy prevailed in the 1900s largely thanks to these advantages and the happy accident that the resources of the United States remained broadly speaking on the side of democracy when it really mattered.

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Janne M. Korhonen (@jmkorhonen@mastodo.fi)

@jmkorhonen

Jan 12

Lienee aika lyhyelle yhteenvedolle. Miksi uskon Ukrainan kykenevän voittamaan rauhan ja jopa sodan, jos se vain saa tarpeeksi apua?

Lyhyesti: koska sotimiseen tarvitaan muutakin kuin vain miehiä ja kiväärejä. Ja Venäjällä on riittoisasti lähinnä miehiä. 1/

Väännetään ensin rautalangasta, miksi Venäjän sotilaallinen voitto vaatisi ihmeen.

Venäjä yritti viime helmikuussa nopeaa ratkaisua heittämällä sanalla sanoen juosten kustuun operaatioon 175 000-190 000 sotilasta ja ehkä 34 000 "separatistialueiden" "vapaaehtoista." 2/

Nämä sotilaat olivat Venäjän asevoimien parhaimmistoa niin osaamiseltaan kuin varustukseltaankin. Täysimittainen hyökkäys vaikutti kuitenkin niin typerältä, että moni - minäkin - uskoi Venäjän yrittävän koko maan valtausta vasta kun panssarit lähestyivät Kiovaa.

Miksi? 3/

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Janne M. Korhonen (@jmkorhonen@mastodo.fi)

@jmkorhonen

Jan 10

https://twitter.com/elisabethbraw/status/1612501290768076828

Make no mistake: conscription is problematic, and a human rights issue especially when it's male only. Many feminists have actually pointed this out for years, and things may change.

But in real life, sometimes one has to accept a smaller evil to prevent a larger one.

https://twitter.com/elisabethbraw/status/1612501290768076828

The way I see things, conscription is a defense tax paid by Finnish men and volunteer women. Just how much it costs is unknown, but one estimate suggested the effect of e.g. delayed studies could equal 2 % of GDP.

So we'd need a defense budget that's 4 % of GDP to end conscription, AT LEAST. In reality, with our tiny population base (5.5 million), we probably couldn't produce a credible deterrent even with 6 % of GDP. Sweden for one tried, with almost double the population, and failed.

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Janne M. Korhonen (@jmkorhonen@mastodo.fi)

@jmkorhonen

Jan 10

I don't advertise businesses often, but if you happen to visit Turku in Finland, there are two restaurants you should check out.

Last weekend I had one of the best vegan dishes I've ever tasted at Tintå: their Savoy cabbage rolls. Really good!

tinta.fi/in-english

Tintå has a pretty good wine selection as well, and they were even able to recommend a great sweet wine to go with laskiaispulla, or semla in Swedish: a sweet bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream. (One of the better things of Nordic cuisine.)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semla

The second restaurant in Turku that I always recommend is Mami. We lived in Turku for eight years, and eating out was our most expensive hobby. I can't recall a single disappointment at Mami: the food has always been very good, often excellent.

mami.fi

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Janne M. Korhonen (@jmkorhonen@mastodo.fi)

@jmkorhonen

Jan 9

https://twitter.com/HenriVanhanen/status/1612351734013202432

Here's a great thread from Henri about the current hold-up in FIN/SWE NATO accession process. (Spoiler: we DON'T like tinpot dictators from third-rate countries who try to meddle with the rule of law.)

I'll add some background, as there have been some odd narratives lately. 1/

https://twitter.com/HenriVanhanen/status/1612351734013202432

First: Are we in hurry to join NATO?

Absolutely, definitely not.

The Russian threat is being cut to pieces in Ukraine. The Finnish Defence Forces alone are already the most powerful military north of 60th parallel. Putin may be detached from reality, but he's not an idiot. 2/

We seek NATO membership because the Kremlin demonstrated, again, that it cannot be trusted to honor the borders of non-NATO countries. They cannot pose a credible threat to us or to our friends in the Baltics for years, but they could be in decades. That's our time horizon. 3/

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Janne M. Korhonen (@jmkorhonen@mastodo.fi)

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