SINCE many don’t yet truly see the wider potential impact of US president President Donald Trump blowing off Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky as February 2025 ended, here’s an overview that likely outlines the underlying method to the apparent madness behind the ongoing mission to ‘Make America Great Again.’
One only needs a quick glance at the classic Risk board game map to grasp the bigger world geopolitics that Trump is aiming to achieve with his usual brusque words and actions – a simplified corporate strategy.
Seeing this map dispels the cloud over apparently confusing salvos that Trump had pursued in recent weeks. Let’s break them down:
- Greenland: to be a bulwark at the northern Atlantic zone,
- Gulf of Mexico (now America): to cordon off the mid-Atlantic,
- Panama Canal: to pinch off any southern threat.
What’s next then may probably be somewhat similar claims at the Pacific front – especially focused on Alaska (to ward off the Russian threat) and Hawaii (as a strategic land base).
Does this mean that Trump will then pursue a merger with Canada plus Mexico through to Central America for the consolidation of the US as a self-sustaining continental region and economy? Or does the US president have bigger ambitions and is also eyeing South America? Risk game players may hazard a guess.
But why cut off the Americas in today’s globalised economy?
Putting sentiment aside, pure logic dictates that the Americas don’t really need the rest of the world for resources of any significance. That’s a conclusion that Trump has possibly reached with his MAGA mantra. And as a ruthless corporate magnate, he’s simply cutting off unnecessary fat that has weighed down on the US.
Abandoning global memberships and stopping generous foreign donations are among the ways that Trump has cut off this fat – but the Zelensky episode reveals there is still more to come.
In case the vision is not obvious, Trump is telling Europe and the rest of the world to go stuff themselves – and to no longer expect the US to come to their rescue in either military or financial means.
This unequivocal message sets the tone for what is likely to happen next – which any Risk player can easily forecast.
Russia’s push into Ukraine is heading to its inevitable conclusion following the collapse of US support, since other European neighbours are going to be marshalling their own resources domestically – rather than bunching up armaments to shore up Ukraine.
It will then be simply a matter of when, not if, when Russia sweeps almost unchallenged across Europe to build a second Soviet empire. This entire region will probably be a repeat of what the East Germans endured for decades, but at a much larger scale. Enough said about what other consequences lie ahead for Europe.
It will then make sense for Australasia and the Pacific nations to ally with the Americas – leaving Asia and Africa open for China’s dominance. Unlike the Russian thrust, China’s demand will be phrased as an open threat – starting with Taiwan no longer being able to rely on support from the US.
To avoid a destructive clash, Taiwan will just capitulate to China, with other Asian nations swiftly surrendering when faced with China’s military might. Africa might go this way too, given how much China is already invested in this continent.
Which leaves the Middle East. The powerhouse could be Saudi Arabia and Israel’s fate is an open question once the US withdraws its support. Any Risk player knows that Ukraine and the Middle East may continue to be tension zones as proxy battles that will leave the rest of the world pretty calm otherwise.
The big question is – are we now on the cusp of the world becoming a real-life Risk game? And if so, will Trump actually end up reshaping world geopolitics?
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