The games we play in our youth and throughout our lives, shape how we approach strategy at a cultural, societal level.

US strategic thinking (especially at present) is epitomised by poker. The bluff, and narrative control, and short to mid-term domination and gains.

Israeli strategy is dominated by a chess game that is centered on technicalities, engineered precision, and winning the tournament instead of the game at hand.

Iranian strategy is shaped by an approach to chess and backgammon that centers patience and resilience under pressure.

Russian chess strategy is all about controlling the game in ways that make strong end-game moves inevitable.

And China's strategic thinking is strongly shown by Go, such that they know how to manipulate and control the entire field to maintain overall pressure and decentralise influence.

So when you get a Poker player and Chess player teaming up against a Backgammon player that is quietly backed by a master chess player and the quintessential Go player, in a game of Risk, the question is whether team Poker can win the game before team Backgammon reshapes the entire board so that there are no win conditions left for Team Poker.

*This is mostly tongue in cheek, and should not be taken as actual analysis of the War between the US/Israel and Iran