If anything ever gets to the point where you need to seriously fear nukes, artillery strikes and carpet bombing, then that's time to mobilize your entire population for guerilla warfare. Those sorts of things don't really just happen by surprise and when it's coming, everyone sees it coming.

What I am talking about is economic development and nationbuilding from the standpoint of getting the defacto respect of the central government, in a hard way or easy way sort of way.