Why You Have to Play Diplomacy Before You Die

Once upon a time in the spring of 1901 there were seven nations. There was England, France, Germany,Austria Hungary, Russia, Italy and then there was of course me the Ottoman Empire. And there was also the Daily Reader which is nothing more than a pack of yellow journalism and lies! But I digress...

Now here's the map of the board:

Turkey is right next to Russia and Austria. It is also incredibly easy for Italy to send some boats out and stab me with Austria's help. So I needed a plan. I needed to prove the Ottomans we're not just the sick man of Europe. So I hatched a plan. I talked to the Russians and told them this.

Shortly after that same day Russia had something to do, and conveniently I found my self in a room with Germany, Austria, and England and I said that we all had one common enemy the Russians. So why not take care of a mutual enemy. And so we agreed to the treaty of Istanbul. But Germany was skeptical he could easily go either way. So we made him a deal...

We broke out some paper drew some lines on a map of Europe and signed the treaty. With the deal made the plan went into effect, immediately I took Stevastapol and Bulagaria from under Russia's nose. Russia was furious at me for betraying his trust and tan off to the other nations. Germany Austria and England all said they supported him. They were lying. But Russia didn't know that. Then in his smug confidence the Russians though he had me surrounded. He started gloating to the press thinking that he was the big shot. When the moves we're revealed it looked something like this.

Then immediately after I showed Russia the treaty to add insult to injury.

Russia then surrendered. And that is how I brought down the whole Russian army by 1903. It was awesome! There was espionage, intrigue, shady dealing, written treaties and betrayal. And this was one of the greatest lessons about politics I had ever received. 

You see diplomacy is a very simple war game and I'll link you to a video later that will tell you everything to know but I'm gonna parrot some of the very common talking points mentioned in that video and all over the internet. Diplomacy is a game about realpolitik, the idea that all policy is based solely on strategy and opportunity. In this game I had no reason to stab Russia but I realized that my personal safety was always at risk with Russia there at my side. So I had to deal with the threat. But diplomacy is tricky I couldn't just wage war by myself. You need the support of others. And someone in your alliance will have to be betrayed eventually (spoiler it was Germany.) So who do you trust who can you trust. Could I have racked up an army big enough to deter Austria from attacking me later? Or would the threat of the germans squishing him from both sides be good enough? And even if he doesn't attack me should I stab him anyway or could he be more useful as an ally?

None of these question have to do with the ideology of me the player. Or whether or not I liked the people around me. It was all about keeping and controlling power. This is what modern politics really are. Whenever the news reports on people like Kim Jong Un or Vladimir Putin or even Donald Trump to some extent they always say something like 'why would you make such a dumb move that goes against your own ideology or even common sense.' The answer is because they don't care. They don't care about ideology they're just trying to hold power by any means possible. I firmly believe if everyone played diplomacy more this would make more sense and be more common knowledge. 

Believe in your ideologies all you want. And believe them whole heartedly. But when power comes into play "you'll lose a lot of battles until you start playing their game." Play diplomacy not just because it's fun but because it's essential to understanding this  crazy world we have entered.

Appendix 1:

Wanna play diplomacy for free here are some great resources to get you started.

http://www.playdiplomacy.com (a website to play online.)

http://www.backstabbr.com (a website to play and experiment so you understand the rules)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWt0AQWjhPg (this video will explain the rules and some ideas on how to play it and why it's great. Plus if you want your intro to Dungeons and Dragons watch him.)

Appendix 2:

This is some house keeping. I'd like to celebrate the fact that the last post doubled in views since the previous posts. We went from 25 to 50 readers which to me is worth celebrating seeing as how that five times the number of people that I thought would read it. Personally I'd like to start getting more feedback in comments so I can start improving. I mean I got make sure the site is all nice and what not for when we reach 75 readers.