I feel bad for Taiwanese politicians. They can’t afford to provoke a major tantrum from Trump. They still need to purchase American arms, even if the US can’t be counted on to help in an invasion. Some performative flattery and groveling might be in order. If it was me, I’d swallow my pride and cite the impossibility of moving entire chip production chains instead.

Russian soldiers come from poor regions: Siberia, the Far East, Kalmykia, etc. To many poor recruits the pay far exceeds anything they could get in civilian life. It’s the same strategy as the US military: go to impoverished states and get those desperate poor schmucks to fight and die for you.

Russia has expanded the draft and seemingly can’t count on volunteers as much as before. So the situation may change in the future.

North Korea was aligned with the Soviet Union after the Sino-Soviet split. All China needs is a buffer state with the United States and its forces stationed in SK, but it wasn’t interested in turning NK into a vassal state after the Soviet collapse. In short, it doesn’t have as much pull as people might assume, and it’s none too interested in intervention.