This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

🇺🇦 Putin’s High Stakes Game

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Putin’s undeserved reputation as a master strategist means some analysts have employed the metaphor of chess to his invasion of Ukraine, but is the Russian President actually playing poker with the West?

Jason Pack, non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute and 2018 World Champion in doubles backgammon, talks to Arthur Snell about the high stakes game between NATO and Russia, and why the Kremlin might have overplayed their hand.

We're putting out irregular war bulletins covering different aspects of the Ukraine crisis. You can support our work on the crowdfunding app Patreon: http://doomsdaywatch.co.uk

Resources to help the Ukrainian people can be found here: https://ukrainewar.carrd.co/

Jason's Foreign Policyarticle can be found here: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/04/09/beat-putin-poker-ukraine-call-bluff/

  •  “A treaty is a piece of paper, and it’s only as strong as the commitment of the signatories to enforce it.”
  •  “NATO Article 5 has only been invoked once, by America in the aftermath of 9/11.”
  •  “Diplomacy and war have always been understood as games.”
  •  “Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin surprised Hitler all the time, we are much more reactive these days.”
  •  “The reality is, the US, the UK and NATO are at war with Russia.”
  •  “Having the lights go out in St Petersburg for 2 hours doesn’t pose an escalatory risk, in fact it makes Putin look bad to his own people.”
  •  “If Putin loses big time in the Donbass, he will have to reevaluate his position.”


    • DOOMSDAY WATCH was written and presented by Arthur Snell, and produced by Robin Leeburn with Jacob Archbold. Theme tune and original music by Paul Hartnoll. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. DOOMSDAY WATCH is a Podmasters production.

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