Summarized: The article discusses former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s views on Europe’s response to the Ukraine war. Marin argues that it is morally and strategically unacceptable for Russia to outspend Ukraine on defense. She suggests that Europe could close the resource gap between Ukraine and Russia by allocating just 0.2% of its GDP. Marin emphasizes that supporting Ukraine is a matter of will and that Europe must take leadership in its own security. She also notes that Europe can no longer rely solely on transatlantic cooperation for its defense. Marin’s comments were made in the context of a report by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, where she now works as a strategic advisor.
First off the suicide rate in the Nordic countries (with the very notable exception of Greenland) is actually lower than the states. It’s just higher than other parts of western Europe.
Second, Norway has a larger proportion of the population in active service than the states. Much larger when you include reservists. Also there is national service here so in a pinch a large proportion of the population can be called up.
You have to consider that Norway has a. Population of 5.5m so you should ask how Norway stacks up against Atlanta (met area).
As for the equipment I have no idea what we spend it on. But the navy seems pretty well equipped and the air force uses f35s so I guess it’s mostly up to date. Also Norway isn’t the easiest place to invade geographically. None of the roads are really good enough to drive tanks on. And the whole country is connected by bridges and tunnels which are easily collapsed if necessary.
Also there is very tight cooperation between Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. So you really can’t look at any one of those countries in isolation.