North Korea's a shithole commie state propped up by the same people propping up the US federal government, pakistan is a US vassal state, and the ZOG has the money they send to Ukraine flushed right back to themselves, leaving people on the ground with nothing.

Now I admit I don't know much about the situation in Syria, but so far, the US has been unable to completely cripple the russian economy with its 'sanctions', so yeah - you're right. Nukes are only part of the winning formula. Being a sovereign power that can beat the shit out of an invading force helps, too.