The blackmail opportunities are obvious. The charm of this series is that the three factions have very different personalities, demanding very different strategies. The ED's context is still very Twentieth Century. Bases are grouped closely to nuclear power plants and money comes from mines, recycling units or selling buildings. The armed forces are manned armored units, the usual naval units and mean helicopters.
Supply comes from dedicated depots and transporters.
The advantages the ED has are the abilities to produce cheap dummy units and to toss nukes. Naturally, the UCS is more advanced. Its atomic plants generate more power that can be sent farther through transmitters. Refineries and harvesting vehicles replace mines. UCS' armed forces are largely automated, rendering anti-personnel weapons less effective.