UKRAINE: CHINESE CHESS, RUSSIAN CHECKERS, AND U.S.A. WITH NO GAME AT ALL
Vol. I | Issue. 73 | March 10, 2022
1972 was a watershed year that marked the beginning of the International Power Realignment that has come to fruition.
Richard Nixon, recognizing that the West could no longer ignore the world’s most populous nation, paid a visit to Mao Tse Dung in April 1972. At the time, few could understand Nixon's startling move.
Nixon was arguably America's number one Cold Warrior, He built his political career on anti-communist bellicosity and regularly asked "Who lost China to the Communists?" when stumping for his House and Senate seats in the 1950s. The question wasn’t really a question, but a dagger pointed squarely at the Democrats for their direct and indirect perfidy in supporting Socialism, Communism, and in some cases, direct treason of the Alger Hiss variety. While the Alger Hiss brand of treason was directed at support for Stalin and the Soviet Union, China, at the time, was a starving Soviet client state. Hence, any support for the Soviet Union supported all Communist regimes, China included.
In 1964, China got the atomic bomb and became a nation that could no longer be ignored as a major power player. As tensions rose between the USSR and Red China, we can imagine Nixon saying, “What could be better? The enemy of my enemy is my friend!” In April of 1972, Nixon went to China, met with Mass murderer Mao, and the East / West Chess game was underway…
Nixon‘s Chess game fomented a fledgling realignment that created a speaking relationship between the U.S. and China that terrified the Soviets in addition to the obvious advantages of thawing direct relations between the US and China. Nixon's chess move at the time was brilliant. It put enormous, unsustainable economic and military pressure on the Soviets, which was likely the most significant single factor leading to the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Unfortunately, Nixon's brilliant 1972 chess move was the last chess move ever made by an American President regarding China.
In 1972, the Soviets were the Chess Masters of the world, but not for long…
On July 11, 1972, the World Chess Championship was commenced in Rekjavik, Iceland, pitting reigning World Champion Boris Spassky, against the freakish, personally unpredictable Bobby Fischer. Fischer the underdog by a significant margin in the final match of the championship defeated Spassky, on August 31, 1972. Spassky "adjourned", the term used in the Chess universe that means “quit”, and the Soviets at that moment lost their world chess dominance.
What game were the Chinese playing in 1972?
Unfortunately, nobody ever understood the Chinese's "long game" except for Napoleon when he said, “Let China Sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world”. I guess most of the experts in the universe of American Strategic Diplomacy figured that the Chinese were playing Chinese Checkers, a game that the Chinese didn't invent and never even played.
“Chinese Checkers” was invented in Germany in 1882 under the name "Stern-Halma" and was later renamed Chinese Checkers by Toy marketers Jack and Jack Pressman in 1928. Nope, No Chinese Checkers for the Chinese… They ARE and have ALWAYS BEEN HARDCORE Chess Players. They have strategically kept their eye on the ball since Nixon's first visit to the smiling Mass murderer in 1972.
The Russians have devolved from playing Chess to Checkers. Their brutal invasion of Ukraine is a shining example of their Checkersmanship… Russia, in this latest venture as an international pariah, is totally dependent on China. They could never have made this move without the Chinese's support and approval.
What might the Russian checker players win if they prevail against Ukraine?
Perhaps some nominal control of their westside neighborhood “Ukraine” on the surface, without gaining any additional power and influence, being relegated to a pariah state. Unfortunately the Russians, unlike their predecessor Soviets who used to be the senior partner in the Chinese/Soviet relationship, are now OWNED, lock stock and barrel, by China. They have pledged all they own to their Chinese overlords…
In the game of Checkers, the winner can always claim small victories. Russia, the Checker Master of the World, is about to become a province of China, but the Chess Master always owns the board…
What is America's game under feckless, incompetent, China-compromised Joe Biden?!?
At this moment, America has no game at all, not even Chinese Checkers…
-Emes
Another excellent analysis. The cognitive dissonance regarding China/Russia from Washington (and the entire West) never ceases to startle.