When people complain that their government is handling geopolitics or domestic issues wrong, it’s important to note that you most likely do not see the whole strategy. Unless you’ve spent countless hours researching and are connected to high ranking individuals who can feed you confidential intelligence, you’ve only seen some of the moves. It’s like looking at a chessboard that’s 50 moves in but you’ve only seen a few moves here and there, spaced at random (and never the entire board at once). Thus it would be foolish to complain and protest when player X moves his rook. You do not see where it lands or how it’s positioned on the board and you do not see the enemies pieces. There’s a lot of data missing. Then you must also consider that the United States, and other nations, routinely hire hundreds, if not thousands, of brilliant analysts that sit around and consider these strategies. They take into account variables you’ve never considered, they balance gains and losses you cannot see, they interact with covert organizations and individuals, they look at funds both private and public, the list goes on. To complain and say, “those idiots in Washington don’t know what they’re doing! I could do better!” is nothing short of foolish ignorance.
The interesting counterpoint to consider here is that transparency is important. Governments who grow too powerful and can remain hidden from their people are dangerous, but at the same time, they cannot simply reveal their strategies because enemies can use that information against them. So what’s the solution? It’s not obvious nor easy.
Remember, it’s easy to feel like you know the answers, but really hard to actually know them. Challenge yourself.