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/

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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