Does Anyone Here Play Chess?

Stefan H. Heuer, M.A.
30.12.2024

No! After all, it’s not a defeat. It could’t be. You don’t have any concept. That is Chess! Putin is enjoying chess with the West. And the West is clearly dropping.

Chess, the sport of kings, is a noble sport. It doesn’t matter what the gamers take into consideration: they themselves take no dangers. It’s the characters that fall. They’re positioned with a view to perform. They haven’t any will of their very own, no worth of their very own. Their worth is measured solely by their momentary usefulness to the participant. Nothing is less complicated for the participant than to sacrifice particular person characters with a view to realise his technique. In German, this is named the ‘sacrifice of the pawn’. Loyalty is barely one-sided, from the characters to the participant. If the pawns survive the sport (i.e. stay in play), they are going to be eliminated till the subsequent sport. The gamers are blissful, the characters are completed.

Sure, it might be that we’re certainly experiencing a big sport. We could also be experiencing a re-run of the ‘Nice Sport’ that the Russian Empire as soon as performed with the British Empire over Central Asia (PDF). And maybe nothing else has ever been performed on this world however the Nice Sport of powers with peoples and nations. At the moment they’re enjoying it in Syria (and within the Donbass, and in Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Taiwan), tomorrow in Iran, and the day after tomorrow….?

Three weeks after the shocking finish of the Syrian Arab Republic’s public order and the takeover of the Western-created ‘rebels’ of Al-Qaeda, named: ‘Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’ (HTS), Israel in addition to the USA and Turkey are immediately militarily concerned in Syria as occupiers, whereas Russia apparently has withdrawn to its two army bases in Tartous and Latakia and is negotiating with the ‘average’ head-choppers in Damascus to take care of the bases. The cooperation of a state energy with creatures whose organisation is classed as a terrorist organisation and banned at residence might be known as ‘Realpolitik’ (politics based mostly on opportunistic pursuits quite than morality).

1 HTS:
The brand new masters in Damascus themselves acquired the primary Western representatives, dream of an embassy in Jerusalem and customarily have grow to be fairly civilian. Whereas the main characters do seem in nice fits, their decrease ranks fortunately do what they’ve been doing in Syria since 2011: murdering, robbing, looting, plundering, burning, raping, terrorising. Specialities of those premium terrorists embrace: Chopping off heads, burning girls and youngsters in ovens, and firing rockets at colleges. Other than that, they’re identified specialists in corruption and destroying private and non-private property. Even when one had been to imagine a constructive will to manipulate constructively, the HTS is more likely to discover it troublesome to ascertain and safe a social, financial and political order that’s tolerable and sustainable for all Syrians. Public order and companies of common curiosity, the core process (and raison d’être!) of any state, within the arms of paid murderers appears quite fragile to me. Competitors, infight and energy struggles between the person teams or between established jihadist warlords would undoubtedly make it harder for the HTS central authorities to get the nation below its management and hold it there. The HTS governorate of Idlib is a putting instance.

2 Israel:
Ostensibly for ‘self-defence’, in actuality for ‘Larger Israel’, the Israeli military has moved into Syria. This bears the hazard that Israel overextends itself, wears out its army capacities in a multi-front battle, underestimates doable setbacks to its occupation, e.g. by way of rising resistance. Added to that is Yemen, which manages to fireplace its ‘Palestine 2’ missiles over 2000 kilometres into the ‘Ben Gurion’ airport in occupied Palestine, making Israel appear like an impotent loudmouth. Now that Syria below HTS / Al-Qaeda has grow to be a department of Tel Aviv, Yemen emerged as the brand new energy within the axis of resistance. Iran can proceed to help it from the background identical prefer it helps the militias in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The resilient individuals of Yemen can’t be defeated with air strikes alone. A floor offensive by the Zionists and their US-American lackeys in Yemen was more likely to be an absolute nightmare for the attackers: allow us to keep in mind that Yemen efficiently fought the military of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which had been pumped up with US weapons, for years and was even capable of hit the Saudis’ oil manufacturing amenities with its long-range missiles.

3 Turkey:
Ought to Erdogan got down to realise his dream of a New Ottoman Empire on Syrian territory, he’ll collide there with Israel and its ‘Larger Israel Challenge’.

4 Kurds (YPG, SDF):
For his or her dream of ‘Kurdistan’, the Kurds have been cooperating with the CIA entrance organisation ‘FSA’ towards the Syrian Republic. They’ve fought towards the Syrian Arab Military and, below the safety of the Pentagon, declare to rule north-east Syria, the place they’ve put their mark with ethnic cleaning towards the native Arab and Assyrian Syrians dwelling there. By way of Turkey, the stolen Syrian oil flows into Israeli tanks and fighter jets. It stays to be seen whether or not the Kurds, who at the moment are pandering to the HTS, will likely be chased away from the Syrian oil and wheat fields.

5 US-People:
The US-People had been waging their battle towards Syria for a minimum of a decade and a half with varied mercenary gangs from the bosom of their CIA operative Al-Qaeda and may now, just like the Turks and Israelis, see themselves as victors. As occupiers in north-east Syria, they’re stealing Syrian oil according to the announcement by the then US President Trump. There, nevertheless, they may come between the Turks and the Kurds and can then be busy taming this sack of fleas.

So is it Putin and Iran who’ve cunningly ready a pit filled with snakes for the US-People, Israelis and Turks in Syria? Since Putin has not achieved his publicly declared targets in Syria, he appears to have modified his targets.
So right here we might have a really basic ‘Nice Sport’ chess match between the gamers Russia and Iran on the one hand and the Evil Empire (Israel and the US and any connected poodles) and Turkey on the opposite, who as supposedly opposing gamers are in reality all within the arms of their grasp.

If that is true, two questions now come up for me:

1. Have Moscow and Tehran requested the Syrians (i.e. the individuals, not the costumed CIA brokers of HTS) whether or not they’re ready to give up their nation and their lives to geopolitical video games?
2. What is going to occur if the Evil Empire and Turkey don’t go down within the Syrian snake pit however take the initiative to alter the enjoying area?

At the moment, we would not have any proof for the assumed actuality of this sport. The graceful transition of energy in Syria makes the potential for prior preparations and agreements appear believable. The battle-hardened Syrian Arab Military, which had efficiently defended Syria for over 13 years towards the Pest of humanity swept collectively from all darkish, pungent corners of this planet, towards cash, weapons, diplomacy, political and financial warfare from greater than 50 nations of this world, is withdrawing with out resistance as if in a single fell swoop, disbanding? The frontline officers who needed to perform the order to retreat knew precisely what would occur to the individuals of Aleppo if the military allowed this metropolis to fall into the arms of the mass murderers who had been harbouring within the jap a part of Aleppo between 2012 and 2016. These officers will pay attention to the Aleppians’ spirit of resistance and the dogged dedication with which the Syrian troopers lastly liberated Aleppo in December 2016 at an infinite price in blood. The speculation of mass desertion and abandonment by probably corrupt generals and armed forces leaders, which shortly unfold within the West, is only one piece of the mosaic. No bribed common can forestall particular person models from disobeying orders or troopers from persevering with to struggle, determined concerning the defeat and the foreseeable horrible penalties for his or her households and their nation.

The Sport principle recognises the scenario through which a participant apparently harms himself with a view to obtain the next objective. This principle might function an evidence for Putin’s behaviour: Putin, the participant, drops Syria for different, greater targets (greater in whose sense?). In comparison with the Syrians, who’re falling into the arms of the head-cutters, Putin is just not risking something. Additionally, President Assad was saved. The alleged assertion by President Assad can’t be confirmed from right here to be both real or pretend. We should settle for the assertion made therein, in response to which there have been in reality no earlier agreements (‘At no level throughout these occasions did I contemplate stepping down or searching for refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any particular person or occasion.’). Nevertheless, additionally in view of the occasions described by Assad himself, the query stays open as to which events didn’t attain agreements – and whether or not this alone is a assure that no agreements existed. Whether or not President Assad was a participant or a pawn can’t be decided in the mean time.

Regardless of the end result of the respective sport will likely be, the peoples of the world haven’t any different destiny to anticipate than being the pawns on the enjoying area of the good powers. Nevertheless, these nice powers not are autonomous nation states. Within the age of globalised plutocracy, their supposed leaders (‘presidents’, ‘prime ministers’) are in reality little greater than the salaried administrators of corporations which might be states in identify. Let’s name these corporations, for instance, ‘United States of America’, ‘Russian Federation’ or ‘Folks’s Republic of China’. That certainly does sound a lot loftier than ‘Vanguard’ or ‘Blackrock’, which as businesses truly management the states. They themselves belong to a really small, very choose circle of personalities about whom it’s higher to not converse when you don’t wish to be labelled an ‘anti-Semite’ and silenced. Now these businesses instruct their subordinate managing administrators to sit on the desk and play the predetermined sport, whereas their masters, the house owners of the businesses, are excessive above the gamers and pull the strings. These masters all the time win in the long run.

The dangerous information, as you could have already guessed, is that within the ‘Nice Sport’, the enjoying characters will not be carved wood figures however individuals and peoples. Nations and territories are the enjoying area. Enjoying characters and enjoying fields can change, the chance of defeat is borne solely by the individuals, peoples and nations.
However who forces the individuals and nations to be characters within the sport of others? They haven’t any actual obligation to serve the gamers. The gamers will play so long as they can place figures, i.e. individuals and nations, on the enjoying area. As quickly as they will not do that, the sport is over. Who is definitely stopping the characters from ending the sport? Who prevents them from cancelling their loyalty, which is barely one-sided anyway, and leaving the enjoying area of those that have performed with them and wish to proceed enjoying? What retains them on the sphere as characters apart from their very own complicity? As a result of, in contrast to useless wood figures, animated individuals have a will.

The excellent news in the long run: there are individuals and nations who will not be ready to play the sport.

Probably the most vibrant in the mean time appears to be Yemen, whose persons are making nice sacrifices, but in addition the Lebanese Hezbollah, the militias in Iraq and the maltreated, genocide-stricken individuals of the Palestinians. We don’t want to say Gaza, can we? For weeks, Palestinians in Jenin have been bravely defending themselves towards terror by the Israeli company working because the ‘Palestinian Authority’. And in Syria, the primary vital resistance is forming across the „Tiger Forces“ elite unit of the previous Syrian Arab Military, which continues to struggle towards HTS regardless of the demobilisation order (https://information.sky.com/story/syrian-forces-targeted-in-deadly-ambush-with-assad-loyalists-13279801 and https://www.presstv.ir/Element/2024/12/30/739994/Syrian-resistance-front-issues-statement-against-HTS-administration).

As an act of resistance, this refusal to be a personality within the ‘Nice Sport’ appears primitive and restricted. However firstly, the resistance to the gamers is alive and secondly, each refusal to play alongside proves that there’s another. He who fights can lose – he who doesn’t struggle has already misplaced. If the characters boycott the sport, it ends.

The decisive check undoubtedly is the angle of lively resistance towards the genocidal occupiers of Palestine. Even in essentially the most troublesome instances of its battle for existence, Syria has remained loyal to Palestine and actively supported the Palestinians. The identical applies to Iran, Hezbollah and Yemen. Rich Arab potentates have most popular to cosy as much as Israel, simply as HTS is now doing. And Russia’s inaction speaks a really clear language. Counting on the large powers is deadly.

The sport continues. Typically the gamers change. So the one actual constants are the stakes of the characters – and the masters of the sport. Maybe at some point the masters will lose the loyalty of the characters. Then they are going to stand bare.
Animated individuals have the privilege of constructing selections. That’s the reason it appears vital to me to consider the way you wish to have lived when it’s important to go away at some point. The choice we derive from that is of significance past ourselves.

Stefan H. Heuer, M.A., historian, born in 1964, has labored as a lecturer in grownup schooling and, amongst others, in Human assets improvement for a US-American firm in Germany.

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