To wonder if anyone has or is considering moving to a country that's less likely to be involved if Putin attacks a NATO country. (title edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[Carla786]

I hope that if WW3 happened, I'd be brave enough to stay and fight. I love Britain & I'd hate to leave it or see it invaded by Putin.

However, at the same time I'm wondering about the recent rush of articles suggesting conflict with Russia is inevitable by around 2030 and that civilians need to prepare to be conscripted to fight if NATO is attacked. I'd always thought Britain being land-invaded was fairly unlikely, but being called up to fight in a NATO war widens the options of what might happen.

Countries that are less likely to be involved include Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland. I don't particularly want to move to any of these. If call-ups are likely to be imminent in about 4 years, I don't know..

The country I've always thought I'd move to if I did move is Poland (where I have family ties)- but of course that's far more likely to be involved in a potential war!

You wouldn't say that it the UK was invaded though!

A coal tit! How lovely. I never see them.

There is no doubt that the world is a dangerous place at the moment but it has always been that way. I was a child in the 60s/70s. I remember my Dad going to his civil defence meetings. Not sure what they actually did as I was quite small but he was just an ordinary person. He was almost called up for the Korean War as he did his national service in the late 40s/early 50s.

I also remember the invasion of Cyprus.

The Cuban Missile Crisis saw Russia and America facing off in the 60s and the world seemed to be on the brink of nuclear war.

I think things seem worse nowadays because we have so much access to news 24 hours a day. When I was growing up there were a set number of news programmes on TV/radio and newspapers. There were probably many conflicts going on which we never even heard of.

People forget about the Bosnian war which was only in the 90s.

Awful things happen everywhere and I think that because in Western Europe we have lived in relative peace since 1945 we can't imagine war. My grandparents lived through the first and second world wars but there are fewer and fewer people left who even lived through the second world war.

I think what I'm trying to say is that , yes the world is a dangerous place but it always has been. We certainly shouldn't bury our heads in the sand but I don't think moving countries is any guarantee.

I think about this a lot with my 3 sons (all babies/young children at the moment). I have zero intention of letting them fight, kill or die for this country. It was my main motivation for chasing my Irish citizenship when I was pregnant with number 1 to make sure they had options other than here. I would and will move in a heartbeat if we decide it's in their best interest. I will do whatever I can to dissuade them from voluntarily joining the army when they're old enough too.

Sadly they do have long range missile abilities. If anyone would like to find out how this could look, theres a great Sky podcast called The War Game where they have former MPs, military leaders and other specialists run through what an attack on the UK might be like. But its stark listening, as military funding has been cut to the bare bones ofter decades of peace time.

He wouldn't necessarily win against the rest of NATO. They have more personnel, a higher combined GDP, and their combined military equipment is not too far off the US.

The rest of NATO has focused more on things like public healthcare and removing wealth inequality as they've historically had the backing of the US. However, any war would likely be drawn out and preceded by much political posturing, giving the rest of NATO time to produce more munitions/equipment.

In theory Russia should've steamrolled Ukraine and the US should've streamrolled the Taliban but the former has been going on for years and the latter was a couple of decades after which the US gave up. No way could they just take Europe.

There have been a lot of military simulations and the US often doesn't come out very well. Like when the Swedish ultraquiet sub 'The Gotland' faced off against an entire US carrier group and 'sank' the USS Ronald Reagan carrier ship despite it being surrounded by many ships/submarines/anti-sub aircraft.

It was only a training exercise but the Gotland was able to send photos of the Reagen in its crosshairs whilst still being undetected by the entire US fleet so 100% it could've sank it. A £100m submarine (now succeeded by newer designs) facing off against an entire US carrier group and sinking a £6bn ship worth 60x it's own value! And it managed to do this repeatedly over multiple reenactments to the point the US requested to borrow it for two years to study it.

Given the US navy is one of their biggest assets it's not great that a tiny cheap sub bested an entire carrier group and sank one of their biggest nuclear carriers undetected. And in the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition the UK has beaten the US 15 times and only lost twice.

Hopefully, it nevers comes to that but I don't think the rest of NATO would be a pushover by any stretch. The US are far more reliant on Europe for imports than we are on them, and logistically they'd likely face more difficulty importing resources than most of Europe would due to being surrounded by water.

"Although Keir Starmer insisted that “nobody is talking about conscription” during an appearance on the News Agents podcast, it wasn’t that long ago that Rishi Sunak was proposing national service for all 18-year-olds."

Rishi sunak didn't have a serious strategy and it wasn't proper national service. It was a vote grab for a certain target group.

Hoping to train as a criminal barrister after I finish my degree (which is history not law)

I totally get that.

In a funny way, I think I would be happier to fight of need be if I had a choice of somewhere else I could go, and make the decision myself.

I certainly don't like the idea of my potential kids (which I definitely want) being born in a war zone... Nor my mother being in one, for that matter.

Thank you but sadly I wonder if Austria could be more likely to get involved in a potential conflict than one might think...

I am seriously considering this move for when possible.

Are you working for the disinformation unit? 🤣

Seriously though, playing down Russia is silly.

We’re in Switzerland. Whilst my day to day life feels safer (eg walking in the city alone at night doesn’t bother me) I honestly don’t think it will be safer if WW3 breaks out. The nature of attacks will be very different to WW1/2 and won’t be contained by borders. For sure somewhere like NZ would be better. Aside from that, it’s very hard to move here post-Brexit anyway.

This is about potential possibilities if they do win Ukraine. Of course we hope against hope they won't, and the Ukranians are nothing if not brave. But we have to remember it's no foregone conclusion that the Russia will lose.

Thank you. Yes, I was thinking that Switzerland is sadly not necessarily going to be free of war if it breaks out

That isn't necessarily true in terms of severity but I agree everywhere has problems.

I agree re Austria, NZ too.

Another option is Uruguay. They are historically very stable. Obviously South America in general is not , though.

Not something I think about. I have another passport but I would be more likely to need to flee a Reform government than a Russian invasion.

Why would you need to flee a Reform government? I hate Reform but do you think they're going to lock innocent people up or similar? I hope not.

Yes, we are planning a move to Thailand (we will see how the first few years go), can both work remotely and with flexibility and off to scope schools and property in a few months. Not just the risk of war, its the UK overall, feeling we are paying tax to even breathe, amongst other major concerns

I'm Northern Irish born and bred. Lived here all my life apart from 8 years I lived in England. I didn't leave when the Troubles were on so the potential threat of war wouldn't made me leave as I love where I live.
On a side note my children and I have Irish passports and people from NI weren't conscripted to fight during the world wars for obvious reasons although a lot of Irish people chose to fight for Britain. Irelands neutrality wouldn't stop Putin though imo.

If you’re young / no dc yet it’s fine to think about a big move. Going by the NATO comment you’re better off going further, out of Europe.

Aus or NZ could work for you. They have strict entry criteria though.

Putin has no interest in invading Britain. Please don’t listen to Western propaganda.

You are clearly young OP so I don't want to be unkind, but it slightly worries me that you claim to be a history student when you are so confidently wrong in all your conclusions and clearly don't even know anything about conflicts that happened as recently as the 80s and 90s.

If I had you in a room with me I would start by making you find all these countries you are on about on an unmarked map. Then, after you had failed that, I would give you a very stern look.

Why do you think I don't know where these are?

What conclusions am I wrong about?