Today’s Great Game.

Afghanistan was in the middle of the original Great Game between Britain and Russia.

The Great Game it could be argued has gone on for some decades since authors and historians labelled it from the days of the Afghan Wars. Leading from soft power to conflict, and even using proxies, there is no difference today.

The modern day Afghan War lasted over 20 years. But this one was led by the USA with Britain being just one of many partners…or “followers.” This was Britain’s 4th Afghan War over the decades or centuries, and Britain has now lost 4-0.

This brings me to today…right now.

The new USA administration under the guidance of American billionaires pulling the strings of POTUS has decided to talk directly with Russia. Not over Afghanistan, but over ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

I love jaw jaw jaw…and not war war war…an old Churchill-ism.

However, in order for talks to be successful, firstly those instigating them, in this case the USA…have to have representatives that are as savvy as those who they are going to communicate with.

A while ago now, my wife asked me who I’d most like to watch playing chess together. My answer back then was immediate and simple…Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan against Yasser Arafat who at the time was (and still would be) Stateless.

In my view two leaders who are having to play a canny game with the leadership of superpowers down to those who run the countries next door to them…and both managed successfully to do just that for some years.

Given that Karzai is still alive after all these years of civil war, long before the Americans entered Afghanistan and the Russians before them, and he still lives unharmed albeit under Taliban rule now inside Afghanistan. Arafat was a different matter, someone from somewhere had him poisoned, and he eventually died.

So, getting back to “Today’s Great Game,” I shudder every time I see the US representatives versus the Russian ones, knowing just how long the Russian representatives have been playing this game for.

Rubio versus Lavrov…ha ha ha ha…I could cry!

For me there is no contest.

The leadership of the UK and the leadership of the key European countries only have themselves to blame for today’s scenario.

Turning the clock back a wee while to when Putin put his armour up against the Ukrainian border, I was screaming for the British government to call Biden and his admin, to get him to call Putin and tell him that if one Russian soldier puts a boot onto Ukrainian soil, the US and their Allies will strike immediately!

But no, instead they all believed Putin’s lies, and we’re here today closer to WW3 than ever.