The Global Chess Game

East-West politics have on many occasions been compared with a worldwide chess game and this article is going to be taking a close look at the checkered politics that not only form today’s global landscape, but some of the decisions that have led us here.

With disregard to sizes, the world can readily be imagined as being a chessboard of sorts, different nations being occupied by different squares, and the differing characteristics of the chess pieces being representative of nations’ politics. This is hardly a new idea however, Zbigniew Brzezinski having penned his book ‘The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives’ in 1997. The content, and more importantly the doctrine that this book contained, was hardly revolutionary in thought yet has come to be considered a manual for US foreign policy in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Now let’s have a look at some of the Key Squares on that board and how they affect the squares and pieces around it.

Syria.

War has now been raging for nearly ten years, yet this square is strategically placed, not only in location, but also due to some of its neighbors. Oil rich, yet not subservient to the western establishment, it has been illegally occupied by US, UK and French troops for years now. Thanks to Russia also placing powerful pieces on its square, a very slow and painful recovery is now taking place at the same time as the West still occupies a good part of its area.

Libya.

This was another oil-rich square once upon a time, yet Gadaffi wanting to sell his oil in currency other than dollars meant that NATO played an Armageddon Game on the country, a once wealthy nation now best being represented as a burnt-out square on the board.

Taiwan and Hong Kong.

These are obviously very separate entities, yet the positioning of their squares on the board adjacent to China is of great interest to the square occupied by the US. An inordinate number of pieces are being strategically placed in order to bring these squares under as much pressure as possible, yet due to their great distance from America and the arguments used to threaten them, you could be forgiven for thinking that Uncle Sam is playing on two (or more) boards at once.

The Middle East.

There are a number of very important squares in this area, not only concerning resources, but also relating to their locations. There are a number of squares that have to a degree been burnt out of the board, yet with America attempting a Blockade move on Iran, there is certainly a lot of strategic play left in the area.

China.

This is the real strategic square on the board as far as its western opponents are concerned, the US Pivot to Asia revolving around this very square. Not only is the primary objective for western warmongers, it’s also occupied by an incredibly powerful piece. Should Washington and its lackeys continue to put pressure on this square, they might find that pressure countered by a crush move, squashing an already bloated West as flat as a pancake.

Russia.

Then we move onto Russia. Volumes have been written regarding its resources, strategic value and moves it can play, but this square is well and truly blocked from all pieces on the western team. Many moves have been played, but even after the Yanks apparently came to rescue everything they could from this square after the fall of the USSR, it has risen back up to face off its opponents. As much as Moscow has played by the rules however, these have been countered by countless Illegal Positions by the West. Should this continue, certainly remembering the Kotov Syndrome of which it is presently suffering, DC et al might suddenly find their Endgame far closer that they previously supposed.

Donbass and the Ukraine.

These two squares are irrevocably linked, one being born of the stupidity of the other. These, whilst strategic in location, are only of use for those who wish to attack the Russian square, which not only explains the ongoing war, but the great attention paid to them by western players. Maidan was created in order to capture Kiev En Prise in order to use its square to further threaten Russia. Add to that NATO troops also sitting on the Ukrainian square and the tactics get ever more complicated. The result is that the war is now at a Stalemate due to both the Donbass’ determination and proximity to Russia as well as absolute Prophylaxis on the part of the Ukrainians.

Now we’ve looked at the squares, let’s look at some of the pieces and their tactics.

The US is the heavyweight on the board, with more pieces than it can afford, yet being unable to gain the upper hand in the game as a whole. Add to that an absolute absence of diplomacy, and we are reminded that you should never play chess with a pigeon. ‘The pigeon just knocks all the pieces over. Then shits all over the board. Then struts around like it won.’ This may seem a little oversimplified, yet it does pretty well sum up how the US behaves on the world stage today. Add to that the lackeys that hang on to Uncle Sam’s coat tails, and you’ve got an entire flock of pigeons which truly are birds of a feather. The US has the pieces, but it has not got the overall advantage, and as time passes by, there will be ever fewer squares willing to give DC the quarter it will increasingly need. China is a different matter. A country with a tradition of both diplomacy and sticking to its word, it is the king of anything it wants to be, and should others try to force it to do otherwise, they’ll be playing Fool’s Mate on themselves. Beijing controls a large square with powerful pieces, yet look again a little while later and those pieces will be stronger still. China plays the long game and already having its economic fortress has no need of castling short. We now come onto Russia. Again a country which is a Grandmaster of diplomacy as well as being on the rise, Moscow’s square, whilst safe, is abutted by that of the Donbass, and should the Ukraine attempt any moves, we may soon see Russian pieces sitting pretty in Donetsk and Lugansk. Zelenskiy’s promises may have made him Kiev’s emperor, yet any move from his square may leave him with no clothes on, one of a number of Bare Kings currently ruling the western roost. Europe itself is next on the list, this not taking up a good number of squares, but willingly sharing its space with a US-led NATO which appears to dictate every move it makes. That organization plays with Initiative, increasingly imposing Forced Moves upon its member states, even using Zugzwang to position them as far away as Afghanistan, this again begging the question as to how many boards Washington plays its game of 3D chess on. Couple that with the squabbles that are now legendary within the EU, and you can see that Europe as a whole is playing a Smothered Mate on itself before it even tries to outmaneuver the East and you can see that this whole situation is never going to be a Kingmaker. Last of all is the US, thinking it is a knight in shining armor, yet playing the rules whilst never wanting to play by them. It has been king of the board for decades and shall continue to be the king of any pawn foolish enough to play its game. As other players come together to oppose it however, the winds will start to blow against it, cold draughts blowing from the East whilst the Fed just keeps writing checks in order that DC stays afloat.

In Summary.

The idea of a global chessboard was first touted by Zbigniew Brzezinski in 1997, and to this day, his ideas not only direct many of the moves the US makes today, but his own son Ian is at the forefront of their promotion as part of the Atlantic Council. As the West looks increasingly frail against the rivals of its own making, the overwhelming advantage it had in the game is now over, its remaining pieces on the board leaving it with the choice of falling into its own Checkmate or going nuclear in an Armageddon Game. Once the ruler of the Western world, DC is now the barest of kings, it offering Sham Sacrifices to support its efforts through proxy armies and attempting to arrange friendly states into a Pawn Structures hoping that their Positional Sacrifice will give it an advantage when the opening moves of its Blitz Chess politics lead to the Endgame of total war…