Bridging gaps in economy, politics, diplomacy and warfare: review and next steps

Executive summary

For a passed half year I have been practicing on economic analysis, politics, diplomacy and warfare according to the plan developed by me and ChatGpt. This week I took a self-assessment test prepared by ChatGpt and result shown significant improvement of my skills in this areas.

The ultimate target were:

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

Self-assement test shown a mature, systematic and realistic approach, as well as the ability to:

notice hidden interests,
build unobvious connections,
make decisions taking into account risks and areas of responsibility,
keep face in conflict,
use the mistake as a point for improvement rather than an emotional reaction.

The next 3 months plan is continues to improve my skills in this fields to the mastery.

Below you can read results of this self-assessment tests in more details and review the plan on the next 3 months.

Self-assessment test: results

Excellent, Dmitriy.

I carefully went through all five links and reviewed your answers in each of the thematic blocks. Below is a neat, deep, and honest breakdown across the five skills that we trained for six months:

economic vision
networked thinking
diplomacy and saving face
multi-level strategy
managing error as a resource

Overall assessment of your answers

You demonstrate a mature, systemic, and realistic approach, as well as the ability to:

notice hidden interests,
build non-obvious connections,
make decisions taking into account risks and areas of responsibility,
keep face in conflict,
use mistakes as a point for improvement rather than an emotional reaction.

Below — details for each skill.

1) Economic vision (Monday)

What is visible from your answer:

You show a good understanding that:

economic policy is a distribution of costs, not just "improvements",
introducing risk officers, regulation and standards costs money,
in different economies there are different sources to cover costs,
decisions in the economy are always a struggle of interests, not "technical management",
the state has no magical source of resources, and any reforms must have an economic beneficiary or an economic bearer.

Strength:

You see "who pays", "who wins", "who loses". This is the core of economic vision.

Weakness:

The ability to see secondary effects is a bit less distinct, such as:

redistribution of risks between sectors,
the demonstration effect (if we do X, tomorrow other groups will demand the same),
impact on the incentive structure of officials, corporations, citizens.

But this is a small refinement, not a lack of skill.

Conclusion: high level.

2) Networked thinking (Tuesday)

From the answer about the "grey connector" the following is clear:

You understand the essence of informal actors in complex systems.
You see differences between Russia and China through governance structures, not slogans.
You understand that a "synchronization node" is not a position or an office, but a role function in the network.

Strength:

You think in networks: roles, functions, informal centers of gravity, communication nodes.

Weakness:

You could expand a bit more on:

network resilience,
alternative centers of synchronization,
competitive networks within the state.

But the base itself is very strong.

3) Diplomacy and face (Wednesday)

In the diplomatic block your answer shows:

a calm and respectful attitude to the positions of the parties,
a refusal of aggressive reaction,
an ability to preserve dignity under pressure,
an ability to maintain a constructive vector even in the face of manipulation.

Strength:

You demonstrate positional stability — you don't lose face and you don't let interlocutors change the frame to a conflictual one.

Weakness:

You can formulate counter-move strategies a bit more clearly, for example:

"how to return the discussion into a frame advantageous to you",
"what minimal package you are ready to concede".

But overall — your diplomatic skill has noticeably grown.

4) Multi-level strategy (Thursday)

Your own strategy and the analysis of its strengths/weaknesses show:

an ability to build layers of the game — overt, covert, reserve,
an ability to see scenario consequences,
an ability to explain the structure of your logic (meta-thinking),
an understanding that even a strong strategy requires adjustments.

Strength:

You demonstrate not just multi-move thinking, but the architecture of the game. This is a rare, high-level skill.

Weakness:

Sometimes a "hard check" is missing:

what happens if all assumptions collapse at once?

But that is already advanced-level analytics.

5) Managing error as a resource (Friday)

You very clearly highlighted:

that a new procedure implies new costs,
that an error in a system is not a reason for repression but a reason to improve the process,
that international and national conditions differ,
that decisions are not mechanically copied from someone else's environment.

Strength:

You do not try to "brush over" an error — instead, you use it to refine models. This is the Main Skill of Friday.

Weakness:

Sometimes you could structure the analysis a bit more rigidly: "error — cause — vulnerability — improvement — gain". But this is a formal point.

Final integrated assessment

Skill	Level	Comment
Economic vision	8/10	You clearly see interests. Could dig deeper into secondary effects.
Networked thinking	9/10	Very strong. You work with roles and nodes.
Diplomacy and face	8/10	Confident. Could use a bit more counter-frame tooling.
Multi-level strategy	9/10	Mature understanding of the architecture of the game.
Managing error	8/10	Good maturity; can strengthen formal error-analysis structure.

General conclusion

You have indeed progressed over these six months — and not just in theoretical understanding, but in the ability to apply these skills in concrete modeled situations.

You answer like a person who:

sees the structure of the game,
knows how to keep face,
understands that behind any action there are interests,
thinks in networks,
and turns mistakes into improvements.

So all five skills are practically mastered and at a good level.

Level 2 Program: Three-Month Mastery Track

Excellent. Then I will propose a Level 2 program designed for the next 3 months. This is no longer basic training — this is the transition to mastery: you begin to operate with power constructions, where not only knowledge matters, but also the ability to hold context, tempo and influence simultaneously on several levels.

I divided the program into 3 blocks, one per month. Each block increases the difficulty across your five key skills.

Month 1. Strategic Depth: Holding the Game on Multiple Floors

Main Goal

Learn to control situations where:

all participants hide part of their motives,
information is fragmented,
pressure comes simultaneously along economic, semantic and political lines.

✦ 1. Economic Vision (extension)

We work with situations where resources are “hidden”:

grey funds, credit as a weapon, hidden subsidies, shadow logistics.

You learn to recognize “invisible” flows.

✦ 2. Network Thinking

Increased difficulty: competing networks within the state and how they interact:

power, economic, elite-clan, technological, regional networks.

You identify who is the “owner of context” in each node.

✦ 3. Diplomacy and Face

Scenarios where:

the interlocutor behaves incorrectly,
frames constantly shift,
pressure is applied through third parties.

Your task: hold your face while simultaneously imposing your own frame.

✦ 4. Multi-Level Strategy

You build strategies with:

illusory moves,
false goals,
distracting contours,
a double bottom.

The goal is to create systems that are difficult to attack.

✦ 5. Error Management

Transition to the systemic level: the ability to detect errors that have not yet happened, but are inevitable.

Month 2. Managing Power, Influence and Uncertainty

Main Goal

Understand how modern “power fields” work — not only force structures, but also:

information contours,
international pressure,
economic linkages,
personal and corporate interests.

This month is about “power without force.”

✦ 1. Economic Vision

Complex cases:

external pressure on internal markets,
structural crises,
geo-economic traps.

You learn to see how small signals lead to large consequences.

✦ 2. Network Thinking

Intelligence-level complexity:

analyzing actor behavior via indirect signs,
identifying hidden centers of influence,
determining who is a “facade” and who is a real player.

✦ 3. Diplomacy

Major theme: managing alliances and coalitions whose members want different things.

You learn to:

keep everyone within one frame,
prevent the coalition from collapsing,
but also prevent it from absorbing you.

✦ 4. Multi-Level Strategy

You create scenarios that:

survive two failures at once,
automatically redistribute risks,
remain optimal even under setbacks.

This is strategic architecture.

✦ 5. Error Management

Development: turning error into a tool of power amplification.
Techniques: mirroring guilt, distributing responsibility, raising the system.

Month 3. Context Control: Influencing Situations and People Without Direct Action

Main Goal

Become the “owner of the frame” — the one who defines:

the format of discussion,
the vector of events,
the acceptable solutions.

This is the highest level:

You do not react — you set the rules.
You do not play someone else’s game — others play yours.
You do not explain — you form a context in which explanation is unnecessary.

✦ 1. Economic Vision

Ability to:

create conditions for events to unfold in the desired direction,
change incentive structures,
operate forces indirectly via contours rather than directly.

✦ 2. Network Thinking

Focus: “Managing second-order nodes” — you do not work directly with key people, but with those who influence those who influence.

✦ 3. Diplomacy

High-tier techniques:

managing silence,
managing uncertainty,
creating “frames of impossibility” for undesirable decisions.

✦ 4. Strategy

You design large schemes that include:

a main plan,
plan B,
a hidden plan C,
and a “pseudo-plan D” masking the real goal.

✦ 5. Error Management

Theme: institutionalizing errors as a way to keep the system flexible and alive.

Work Format for These 3 Months

Every week:

1 large case based on the monthly skill,
4 small cases covering the remaining ones,
every two weeks — a complete map of your thinking,
end of the month — an integrational stress test (like an exam).

If you want — I can start with the plan for week one right away.