Here's a game for you smartheads
Can you guess the four belligerents here from the descriptions of their stances at the international scene? I'm guessing it won't be too difficult, but let's play this game anyway.
Description of the 4 belligerents...
Player A. Former great power and multiethnic empire. Authoritarian rule. Resource-based economy. Ethnic and religious conflicts lingering. Huge social and economic disparities.
Player B. Global power, presumably bringer of democracy and progress around the world. Too interventionist and militaristic at times. Federal, democratic political system. Powerful and diverse economy. Social and economic inequality rising.
Player C. Emerging regional power. Very populous. Rising and rapidly diversifying economy, hungry for resources, reliant on international trade. Authoritarian "iron fist" rule. Emerging middle class. Growing regional aspirations.
Player D. A mosaic of modern societies, some former great powers. Democratic and pluralist. Sophisticated, modernized economies. United in a loose bloc.
Positions and goals of the 4 belligerents...
Player A
Destabilizing Player B: Identify a divisive and inadequate candidate for power who is relatively friendly to us, and sponsor their campaign; allow their administration to damage their society by rolling back previous economic, social and geopolitical advancements through their absurd policies, creating internal divisions, and deepening the social and economic rifts.
Destabilizing Player C: Mostly rely on Player B focusing their attention on countering Player C's ascent to regional power; possibly pitch them against each other at every opportunity.
Destabilizing Player D: Create conflict in neighboring territory; allow said conflict to spill over into Player D's territory; sponsor separatist parties and politicians in Player D's constituent members; create internal tensions through external pressure; cause cracks in Player D's unity.
Player B
Destabilizing Player A: Encircle them with a ring of hostile minor countries; establish a military blockade around their territory; engage in an arms race, forcing them to spend much of their resources on meaningless endeavors; sponsor various organizations to create domestic tensions, and hope for political change and overthrowal of Player A's government.
Destabilizing Player C: Shift geopolitical and military focus on the region immediately adjacent to them; hold them blocked inside their backyard militarily; keep their economy dependent on your currency; tinker with the prices of global resources to control the growth of their economy.
Destabilizing Player D: Frequently ignite and sustain major conflicts in various adjacent regions; pressure Player D's economy through unfair competition; keep them militarily subordinate under the pretense of defending them from Player A; keep their economy highly dependent on our markets.
Player C
Destabilizing Player A: Use our economic growth to expand into their market, making their economy dependent on us; use them as a resource backyard, making their industry dependent on us.
Destabilizing Player B: Flood them with cheap goods; lure their major industrial players into our economy through more competitive labor; hold a great portion of their national debt as hostage; threaten their allies in our region; out-compete them in other regions by investing heavily in foreign lands, and pushing them out of their zones of influence.
Destabilizing Player D: Flood them with cheap goods; lure their major industrial players.
Player D
Destabilizing Player A: Promote our political agenda within their society through various organizations; lure countries from their zone of influence into ours; respond to their political and military adventures by imposing economic sanctions, thus slowing down their economy.
Destabilizing Player B: Mostly try to look more attractive to business than they are.
Destabilizing Player C: Mostly rant about their authoritarian rule; issue scolding statements whenever they become too assertive in their region.
So... Did you manage to guess who A, B, C and D are?
Description of the 4 belligerents...
Player A. Former great power and multiethnic empire. Authoritarian rule. Resource-based economy. Ethnic and religious conflicts lingering. Huge social and economic disparities.
Player B. Global power, presumably bringer of democracy and progress around the world. Too interventionist and militaristic at times. Federal, democratic political system. Powerful and diverse economy. Social and economic inequality rising.
Player C. Emerging regional power. Very populous. Rising and rapidly diversifying economy, hungry for resources, reliant on international trade. Authoritarian "iron fist" rule. Emerging middle class. Growing regional aspirations.
Player D. A mosaic of modern societies, some former great powers. Democratic and pluralist. Sophisticated, modernized economies. United in a loose bloc.
Positions and goals of the 4 belligerents...
Player A
Destabilizing Player B: Identify a divisive and inadequate candidate for power who is relatively friendly to us, and sponsor their campaign; allow their administration to damage their society by rolling back previous economic, social and geopolitical advancements through their absurd policies, creating internal divisions, and deepening the social and economic rifts.
Destabilizing Player C: Mostly rely on Player B focusing their attention on countering Player C's ascent to regional power; possibly pitch them against each other at every opportunity.
Destabilizing Player D: Create conflict in neighboring territory; allow said conflict to spill over into Player D's territory; sponsor separatist parties and politicians in Player D's constituent members; create internal tensions through external pressure; cause cracks in Player D's unity.
Player B
Destabilizing Player A: Encircle them with a ring of hostile minor countries; establish a military blockade around their territory; engage in an arms race, forcing them to spend much of their resources on meaningless endeavors; sponsor various organizations to create domestic tensions, and hope for political change and overthrowal of Player A's government.
Destabilizing Player C: Shift geopolitical and military focus on the region immediately adjacent to them; hold them blocked inside their backyard militarily; keep their economy dependent on your currency; tinker with the prices of global resources to control the growth of their economy.
Destabilizing Player D: Frequently ignite and sustain major conflicts in various adjacent regions; pressure Player D's economy through unfair competition; keep them militarily subordinate under the pretense of defending them from Player A; keep their economy highly dependent on our markets.
Player C
Destabilizing Player A: Use our economic growth to expand into their market, making their economy dependent on us; use them as a resource backyard, making their industry dependent on us.
Destabilizing Player B: Flood them with cheap goods; lure their major industrial players into our economy through more competitive labor; hold a great portion of their national debt as hostage; threaten their allies in our region; out-compete them in other regions by investing heavily in foreign lands, and pushing them out of their zones of influence.
Destabilizing Player D: Flood them with cheap goods; lure their major industrial players.
Player D
Destabilizing Player A: Promote our political agenda within their society through various organizations; lure countries from their zone of influence into ours; respond to their political and military adventures by imposing economic sanctions, thus slowing down their economy.
Destabilizing Player B: Mostly try to look more attractive to business than they are.
Destabilizing Player C: Mostly rant about their authoritarian rule; issue scolding statements whenever they become too assertive in their region.
So... Did you manage to guess who A, B, C and D are?