Die Spieler am Vorabend der Zerstörung

**Submission Statement:** The politics of conquest, after a respite of a few decades, has returned to reset the global order. While the last few decades haven’t been entirely peaceful, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine signaled the era of “proxy competition and armed interventions” was over, and the age of conquering empires had returned. The ghosts of WWI and WWII are long in the rear-view mirror, and a new generation of authoritarian leaders sees armed conflict as a way to both avenge past grievances and claim a stake in the world as America begins its withdrawal from the global stage.