I’ve heard several times that “politics is the only game worth playing”.

The speaker may be correct. Politics is a deep application of game theory, having to maneuver between conflicting interests, constraints, populations, opponents, in order to gain and hold power. Reading military history books, I have begun to understand the triviality of most politics. If the nation is not in a crisis, political power may be exerted any which way, without there being a clear “right” or “wrong” signal from the universe, only the occasional election. In a way, it’s like business. The consequences of people making wrong decisions are generally small. Executives screwing up can be reshuffled within or without, still taking home big paycheques. Companies can go bankrupt with barely anyone noticing – people just move on to another job. There is little moral outrage at the omnipresent casual incompetence and dishonesty of power players during decadent peace time.

The military world is so different. Decisions have life-or-death consequences, and playing around kills. I envy the clarity which this fact should bring to the situation. It requires one to apply a rational mind to the fullest, respect real constraints, balance difficult conflicts, entertain no illusions. It’s the ultimate scientific experiment, precisely because of the stakes.