Bridging gaps in economy, politics, diplomacy and warfare

Intro

If the war is continuation of the policy by other means and the policy itself is continuation of the economy, then causes of wars and tensions around we should look at the economics or as ancient Romans asked "Cui bono?" -- "Who benefits?".

Being almost a decade in the big politics I made several mistakes in terms of diplomacy and warfare, so it is important to avoid them in the future and bridge gaps in this new fields to minimize future mistakes.

With the help of ChatGpt I prepared a short plan to train myself in this fields. In the past AI shown good result in self education and passed three weeks of implementing this plan and practice shown the results are very positive.

I would like to share it with my readers who might be interested to gain theoretical experience and develop some practical skills in this fields as well. Just want to emphasize the importance of supervising AI proposals as not everything its offers right or correct. Especially in terms of ethics and cultural & moral views of the nation.

6-Month Blitz Plan: Economy → Politics → Diplomacy → Strategy

1. Economic Foundation (Month 1)

Goal:

Understand who truly influences political decisions through economic mechanisms.

Concrete Actions:
  • 📚 Take a mini-course or read:
    • Foundations of Political Economy in a modern interpretation (e.g., "Why Nations Fail", "The Power of Capital").
  • 🎯 Focus on three key questions when analyzing current events:
    • Who gets the money?
    • How are distribution chains structured (banks, corporations, raw materials)?
    • Which sectors are strategic (energy, finance, technology, food)?
  • 🛠 Practice:
    • Once a week, analyze a major news event through an economic lens: "What economic interests are behind this?"
Result:

You will begin to see the real "driving springs" behind politics and wars.

2. Political Thinking (Months 2–3)

Goal:

Understand power architecture, build influence networks, and plan long-term.

Concrete Actions:
  • 📚 Study:
    • Bismarck (Realpolitik)
    • Elite Theory (Pareto, Mosca)
  • 🎯 Practice:
    • Map out your personal influence network: Who supports you directly, indirectly, and potentially?
    • Establish at least 2–3 "lines of communication" — people through whom you can operate discreetly.
  • 🔥 Exercises:
    • "3 Scenarios Game": Take a political event → come up with 3 possible developments → analyze which paths strengthen influence.
Result:

You’ll begin to think like a political architect — in networks, systems, and through people.

3. Diplomatic Skills (Months 3–4)

Goal:

Learn to manage perception — of yourself, opponents, and allies.

Concrete Actions:
  • 📚 Read:
    • Henry Kissinger’s "Diplomacy" (a great manual on real-world strategy)
    • Study basic negotiation models (BATNA, soft power, Overton Window)
  • 🎯 Practice:
    • Train strategic concessions: "give" something non-critical in exchange for long-term loyalty.
    • Set hidden objectives for meetings (e.g., not just discussing topic X, but also improving rapport with a person).
  • 🔥 Exercises:
    • "Turn Aggression into Dialogue": Whenever someone acts aggressively — don’t respond in kind, but find a way to neutralize through courtesy.
Result:

You’ll learn how to gain strength even in losing situations and reduce resistance from your environment.

4. Military-Strategic Thinking (Months 4–6)

Goal:

Learn to plan strategically in conflict and threat environments.

Concrete Actions:
  • 📚 Read:
    • Sun Tzu’s "The Art of War"
    • Strategic theory works like Liddell Hart’s "Strategy of the Indirect Approach" and Carl von Clausewitz’s "On War" (even abridged versions)
  • 🎯 Practice:
    • Create a threat-opportunity matrix for your sphere of influence: Where might you be attacked? Where should you strengthen your position?
    • Develop secondary plans: "If X is lost, how quickly can I shift focus to Y?"
  • 🔥 Exercises:
    • "Delayed Reaction Game": In any major conflict, give yourself 24 hours to process before responding.
Result:

You will think in scenarios and stop wasting resources on unnecessary battles.

🧩 Final Outcome After 6 Months:

  • You see who drives events through economic power.
  • You think in networks, not linearly.
  • You know how to maintain face and win even in tough negotiations.
  • You build fallback paths and multi-level strategies.
  • You turn mistakes into sources of further empowerment — not weaknesses.

Micro-Plan for the 1st Week

Day Task
Monday Select one economic book or article and start reading for 20–30 minutes a day.
Tuesday Conduct your first economic analysis of a major event (e.g., elections, war, treaty).
Wednesday Build a map of your relationships: who is a friend, who is neutral, who is an opponent?
Thursday Read one chapter from The Art of War.
Friday Choose one major event of the week and come up with three different development scenarios.
Saturday Free practice: analyze any news or situation from the perspective of "Who wins and how?"
Sunday Reflection: What worked? Where do you want to grow stronger next week?

Micro-Plan — Week 2: Scenario Thinking & Strategic Insight

Goal: Learn to construct scenarios, take unconventional actions, and detect weak signals of the future.

Day Task
Monday Exercise: "Three Scenarios"
Choose one current event (e.g., conflict, election, economic decision) and come up with:
• An optimistic scenario
• A realistic scenario
• A negative scenario
Bonus: Try to predict second- and third-order consequences (3 steps ahead).
Tuesday Play "In Foreign Shoes"
Choose a global actor (state, corporation, or private entity) and analyze:
• What are their true goals?
• What does "victory" mean for them?
• What are the weak points in their strategy?
Wednesday Build Your "Threat Radar"
Draw a map of where new conflicts, shifts, or attacks could emerge (in your domain or globally).
Goal: Train early-warning thinking.
Thursday From Theory to Practice
Read John Chrysostom's main ideas about governance and power.
Friday Analyze a Failure (Yours or Someone Else's)
Step-by-step breakdown:
• What was the mistake?
• What alternative scenario could have saved it?
• What signals were ignored?
Saturday Exercise: "The Invisible Move"
Come up with:
• One move you can make that no one expects.
Note: It should be indirect or non-aggressive.
Goal: Train asymmetric thinking.
Sunday Weekly Summary & Planning
• Write down 3 key insights from the week.
• Make a list of new moves and ideas that came to mind.
• Decide what to focus on next week: negotiations, deception, long-term strategy, influence on third parties, etc.

Microplan — Week 3

Focus: Ethical Strategy, Political Thinking, Countering Manipulation

Day Task
Monday Analysis of “Soft Power”
• Study examples of influence through culture, values, humanitarian aid.
• Reflect: What kind of “soft power” do I already have? What can I strengthen?
• Examples: The Vatican, UK, Russia and China.
Tuesday Counteracting Clan Influence
Choose one or more opponents (or abstract "players") and:
• Identify how they operate through opaque schemes
• Find vulnerabilities: where they depend on legitimacy, reputation, channels
• Write down 3 ways to neutralize through light, openness, truth
Wednesday Analysis of a Modern Conflict (Military/Political)
• Choose one regional or global conflict.
• Answer:
– Who are the key players?
– What are their goals?
– What could de-escalate the situation?
• Propose an ethical yet realistic de-escalation strategy.
Thursday Decision-Making in Uncertainty
• Briefly study the OODA-loop (Observe–Orient–Decide–Act).
• Test yourself:
– Where do you “get stuck”: observation, orientation, decision, or action?
– How does this affect your strategies?
– What can be improved?
Friday Working with Authority and Structure (Without Blind Hierarchy)
• Reflect:
– How can I engage with hierarchical systems without compromising ethics?
– How can I build mutual respect without blind obedience?
• Construct your model of “ethical power”.
Saturday Positive coalition
Make a map: who of the surrounding people, organizations, structures:
• Supports you now
• Could support
• With whom it is worth restoring the dialogue
Goal: systemic expansion of the network without manipulation.
Sunday Review + Strengthening the immune system
• Identify 3 vulnerabilities that have emerged this week
• Identify what knowledge/connections/resources will cover them
• Draft one ethical strategic scenario for the next 3–5 years

To be continued...

A few related publications:

Thoughts based on almost a decade in big politics
Thoughts based on almost a decade in big politics

A small book which bridge the gap in some important aspects of my knowledge and target people who will come after me:
What I would like to share with my son

Why you have to work in the power at some stage of your business growth:
https://gelassen.github.io/blog/2023/06/13/why-you-have-to-work-in-the-power-at-some-stage-of-your-business-growth.html