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Events over the past two months have flipped the perception of the geopolitical world on its head, says CJ Werleman

When Russian President Vladimir Putin stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Chinese President Xi Jinping on 4 February to announce their relationship had entered a new era, the fate of global democracy and the Western rules-based international order had reached its low water mark. Authoritarianism was on a seemingly unstoppable march.

Russia and China are playing chess, while the West is playing checkers was the common snipe hurled towards Washington D.C. and Brussels a jibe echoed by former US President Donald Trump who routinely lauded Putin as a genius and praised Xi Jinping for his toughness.

With the United States and Europe divided and in disarray, President-for-life Putin plotted to restore the Russian Empire, while President-for-life Xi Jinping set his eyes on conquering the Western Pacific, starting with Taiwan.

Knowing that the US and NATO cannot fight and win a war on two fronts, the pair set in motion their plot to divide and rule the world, starting with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

Four weeks later, military analysts are calling Putins war the greatest military disaster since the Second World War an accusation supported by a number of data points, including the death of 15,000 Russian soldiers and the loss of 500 tanks, 1,500 armoured personnel carriers, 100 aircraft, 120 helicopters, 35 operational and tactical UAVs, 250 artillery systems, 80 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,000 vehicles of various types, 45 anti-aircraft warfare systems, and 15 special equipment units, according to Ukraines Ministry of Defence.

Russia has lost more military personnel and equipment in a neighbouring country in four weeks than the US lost in Afghanistan and Iraq over the course of two decades. An assessment by the head of the UKs cyber spy agency has said that intelligence shows Russian soldiers are refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their own equipment, and that Putin has massively misjudged the capabilities of his own military.

These losses on the battlefield are paired with the economic destruction that US and European sanctions have wrought on the Russian economy. The consequences will last a generation or longer, with Putin marginalised on the world stage and Russia branded a bona fide pariah state.

Europe is more united than ever before. NATO membership has never looked so appealing. Theres now even talk of an EU Army.

Six weeks ago, Beijing described its relationship with Moscow as an alliance without limits, but now it is pretending like it has never heard of Vladimir Putin, even forcing the Russian Foreign Ministers airplane to turn around midway on its flight to the Chinese capital on 17 March a signal of growing diplomatic distance between the two countries.

With Putin and Russia on the nose, China is suddenly trying to sell itself as an impartial mediator and facilitator for peace talks. Its state-controlled media outlets have even broken away from their initial pro-Russia talking points to air US Government accusations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Beijing now views both Putin and the Russian armed forces through the lens of a popular German expression: Close the lid, the monkey is dead.

According to Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong and a former EU commissioner for external affairs, the problem for Chinas leaders, which they must now realise, is that one must be careful about the company one keeps.

Russias invasion of Ukraine will not produce more grain to feed the Chinese after the poor harvest predicted for their country this year, he has said. Nor will it replace the markets that China now risks losing in Europe and elsewhere because of its perceived closeness to the Kremlin. Instead, Putins war risks irreparably damaging Chinas global image and its prospects of being a potential leader in international affairs.

Two months ago, Xi Jinping, on the back of the Beijing Olympic Games, was riding a wave of unbridled national enthusiasm towards his reappointment in 2022. But not only has his siding with Putin damaged Chinas global reputation, the Chinese economy finds itself in a tailspin, having set its lowest economic growth target in more than three decades. This is against a backdrop of the Coronavirus spreading like wildfire, forcing tens of millions of residents in Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen into lockdown and cutting off travel between cities and production lines, shutting down shopping malls and technology hubs, as reported by The New York Times.

Worse still, China relied on its own vaccines to fight the Coronavirus, but they appear to have been almost useless against the Omicron variant. Because Beijing adopted a zer COVID policy, using strict quarantine and lockdown measures, it has left the population with little immunity from prior infections. The pandemic is now an albatross around Xi Jinpings neck.

His concerns are no doubt heightened by an unprecedented crash in Chinas property market which accounts for 25% of the countrys gross domestic product and 40% of bank assets and an unprecedented flight of foreign capital from Chinese markets since Russia invaded Ukraine, according to a study by the Institute of International Finance. It found no similar outflows from other emerging markets, adding insult to injury.

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These changing economic and political realties have made China more vulnerable to international sanctions and isolation, leaving Beijing with little choice other than to put greater diplomatic distance between itself and Moscow, and less distance between itself and the Western hemisphere.

Taiwans National Security Bureau Director-General, Chen Ming-tong, said that the war in Ukraine is likely to improve China-US relations, in the same way the two rival powers established closer ties after the 9/11 attacks.

This was not the seismic shift in the international order many had predicted when Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping issued their joint statement on 4 February, but it is seismic nevertheless. Just not in the way Moscow and Beijing had hoped for.

As Russia scholar Stephen Kotkin has noted, Putins invasion disproves all the nonsense about how the West is decadent, the West is over, the West is in decline, how its a multi-polar world and the rise of China all of that turned out to be bunk.

The West is playing chess, while Putin and Xi Jinping are playing checkers. Its been a long time since global democracy felt so reinvigorated.

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The West is Playing Chess, While Russia and China are Playing Checkers Byline Times - Byline Times

Bridge, a card game played on partnerships, has long resisted attempts of computer mastery. But now, it seems that a new AI has managed to overcome human performance, and unlike other AIs, its decisions are not a black box.

In 1997, Deep Blue (a non-human chess player) managed to defeat Garry Kasparov, marking a pivotal moment in computer research: computers had overcome humans in the game of chess. Since then, computers have become way better, and have not only surpassed the sum of human chess knowledge but are even making their own contributions to the game. The game of Go, trillions of trillions of times more complex than chess, was also surprisingly mastered by AI.

But unlike chess and Go, bridge is a game of imperfect information, and AIs dont really like this type of game.

In its basic format, bridge is played by four players in two competing partnerships. The whole card deck is split equally between the four players, and partners sit at opposite sides of the tables, bidding for a winning contract, and then playing their entire hand turn after turn. Unlike many other card games, bridge doesnt have a major luck component: in competitions, players at different tables play the same set of cards, so even if youre dealt a bad hand, youre comparing yourself to players at other tables with the same bad hand.

For AIs, not knowing who has which cards is a big problem, but several groups are working on it including NukkAI. NukkAI has been working on cracking bridge for some time, and they launched a challenge that required human champions to play 800 deals, divided into 80 sets of 10. The bidding part was not used, all players (including the AI) started from a predetermined contract and just played out the hands.

Each champion and the AI played against a pair of robot opponents the best robot opponents in the world to date, but which are still not as good as human experts. It wasnt a perfect experiment, but its as good as you can get; and in this experiment the AI won. NooK, as the AI was called, won 67 of the 80 sets.

It should be said that this focused only on one part of the bridge trick game. When one partnership wins the bidding stage, one of the two partners becomes the dummy, and puts his cards visible for everyone to see and their partner then plays with both their own hand (which is still hidden) and the dummys hand (which is visible to all). This is easier because theres less hidden information, its likely that AIs would have a tougher job not being on the declaring side (the one that won at the bidding stage).

Jean-Baptiste Fantun, co-founder of NukkAI, said he was confident Nook would perform better than the best human players under these conditions. AI researcher Vronique Ventos, NukkAIs other co-founder, says Nook is a new type of AI.

Previously, AIs that mastered Go and chess were black box algorithms, where the algorithm is unable to explain to humans why its making some decisions. Top chess players routinely train with chess AIs, and while the machine suggests a move as the best, its incapable of saying why its the best move. But with bridge, it doesnt really work like that. The game itself relies on communication between partners, and so Nook had to be a white box that communicates its decisions, the co-founders explain.

Rather than playing countless rounds of a game and learning by trial and error, NukkAi tries to first learn the games rules and then carefully improve to practice, using both deep learning systems and a rules-based approach. Its a way thats closer to how humans learn, and through this approach, the AI decisions are legible to others. This could make this test far more important than just winning at bridge.

If we want AIs to help us make important decisions in things like healthcare or economics, we absolutely need to understand why the AI says something is the best option having everything under a black box will just not do. Were already seeing AIs move from games to real-world applications, and being able to understand the algorithms decision process can make a world of a difference for real-life applications.

You can watch the entire game here (commentary in French).

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AI has now reportedly mastered the game of bridge and unlike chess AIs, it can also explain itself - ZME Science

Former Eagles Hall of Fame safety Brian Dawkins has been called a legend based on how he played football. It was why he earned one of the most sought-after sportscoats that every player dreams of who enters the league: The gold Pro Football Hall of Fame jacket.

Dawkins left his gold jacket at home Friday. Instead, he chose to wear his red t-shirt with Blessed by the Best across his chest. Dawkins sat down to answer questions at Harrahs in Atlantic City Friday. Dawkins, who was there for the Maxwell Football Club Gala, was also there to accept the organizations Legends Award.

Part of being a legend was his ability to play in various positions on the field, which was not seen a lot during that period in the NFL. Dawkins not only played the traditional roles that safeties had but lined up in the box to stop the run and line up in exotic looks that would force turnovers.

It is common to see safeties used in creative ways like Dawkins was deployed. Dawkins credited the ongoing evolution of the usage of safeties to one of his former coaches.

Former Eagles safety and Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins (left) sits next to University of Alabama quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young (right) during Friday's Maxwell Football Club press conference.Chris Franklin | NJ Advance Media For NJ.com

Its going where Jim Johnson started it, Dawkins said. He began to do what he did with me. With the way he played me and utilized me, it started way back then, with me being used in so many different ways and varieties on the field. I call them a chess piece. Youre seeing more guys that have to have that versatility to make defenses more successful. Im happy to see that the safety position is finally getting some of the credit for being game-changers and not just deep safeties.

Dawkins also talked about what was going on with his former team, saying last season looked as if the Eagles season was broken up into three acts in a movie, and one of them is the real identity of the team.

Any team that is in their second year together, you are still truly developing who you are, Dawkins said. Do we know who the Eagles are? They started off one way, changed midseason and finished off another way. Which one are you? This coming year, they will figure out who they are during this offseason, watching film, having tough decisions, bringing in the other talent that can fill in some of the gaps they may have had. Then we will see what this team really has.

Another thing to watch as the season and the years progress are who the leaders are on the team and how they develop in their roles, especially with some of the younger corps players such as Jalen Hurts continue to get experience and some of the veterans such as Brandon Graham get older.

Dawkins, who was a captain for the Eagles and widely known for his leadership abilities, said that it does not matter who is wearing the traditional captains C on jerseys that denotes the responsibility. Other players could quietly be contributing to the role.

One of the things about leadership is that there are often times leaders that dont have the platform because you have a leader in place, Dawkins said. Sometimes when some of the other older guys leave, for instance, when Troy (Vincent) left, there was an opportunity for me to step up because Troy had vacated a leadership position.

Those leaders that are already there that just dont have the stage, they can then step up because theyve already learned some say with their teammates already, Dawkins continued. The fans just dont know it, so they can just step into that place and then teach the younger guys what it is to be an Eagle.

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Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.

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Eagles great, chess piece Brian Dawkins asks what version of team will show up in 2022 - NJ.com

The US Chess Girls Club has been invited to compete against Grandmaster Judit Polgar for a special simul event, Judit Polgar vs. the World at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday, Mar. 20.

The simul features Polgar facing off virtually against 10 teams from all over the globe, captained by popular chess personalities including notable female players like Anna Rudolf, the Botez sisters, and Anna Cramling.

Following the games, Polgar will summarize and analyze the moves, discuss strategies, and give feedback on the teams performances.

US Chess Womens Director Jennifer Shahade will captain the US Chess team. This is an exciting opportunity for the Girls Club, she said. Judit is one of the strongest attacking players ever and the greatest female player of all time. It will be an honor to play and learn from her.

Female and non-binary players of all ages who are interested in joining the US Chess Girls Team for this event, should register through our Google form.

Our team will be a truly international team, Shahade added. Well be including our cross-cultural program partners with Business Meets Chess & Kids, the Lighthouse Chess Club, and WGM Nadya Ortiz's Colombian group. Chess-in-the-Slums, based in Nigeria, will also help us make our first moves.

According to Shahade, the invitation to the Girls Club was extended after Polgars positive experience visiting with the Girls Club last summer.

Judit Polgar vs. the World will be broadcast live at https://www.twitch.tv/chessconnectsus.

The US Chess Girls Club board will be streamed live with commentary by WFM Alessia Santeramo on her twitch channel.

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US Chess Girls Club Invited to "Judit Polgar vs. The World" - uschess.org

The landscapes in Davide Monteleones images of Chinas belt and road initiative are very familiar to me. We can see desert, uninhabited wasteland and views along the Yangtze River and in north-west China. There are also photographs showing the characters Stay strong, Wuhan! on skyscrapers in neon lights.

They are reminiscent of images I took in China, which captured dilapidated cities before they were rebuilt; energy plants; the development of impoverished areas and large-scale architecture. At that time, I wanted to write a new encyclopedia to elucidate new concepts and thoughts that emerge with rapid urbanisation, and to form a new language. The project was too ambitious, and I did not complete it. It was my failed belt and road.

Stay strong, Wuhan! The Chinese city of Heihe seen from Blagoveschensk, Russia, across the frozen Amur River, February 2020

The initiative, which has been likened to the Silk Road trade routes of imperial China, was proposed by the current Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, as a blueprint to reposition China in the era of globalisation, and to change the world order in a Chinese way. The thinking behind this $1tn project is ambitious. Such long-term planning, coherent political goals and effective implementation are rare, both in Chinese and in human history. The ruling party in China has laid bare its determination to occupy an important role in the world.

Local people at work on the Great Renaissance dam, Ethiopia, September 2019. The mammoth project, which began on the Blue Nile in 2011, is one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the world. China has contributed about $1.8bn of the $4.8bn total cost

The Tecno Mobile factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 2019. The Chinese phone manufacturer stopped doing business in Asia in 2008 to focus on the African market. It is now the second biggest supplier of smartphones on the continent

The goals of the belt and road initiative are pragmatic, unlike those proposed by the Chinese Communist party in their early days, and embodied in slogans such as Exceeding the UK, Catching the US in the 50s and 60s. China, with a huge amount of accumulated wealth and managerial and production experience, has understood that it can fill the gaps in parts of the world that are forgotten and abandoned by the west. These regions thirst for a strong economic entity to piece together fragmented, disorganised territories with longstanding historical differences. This is where China comes in.

About 145 nations have joined the belt and road initiative by signing a memorandum of understanding with China, including countries in Europe, south-east Asia and the Middle East. It is an initiative that mainly focuses on basic infrastructure and engineering projects, such as transportation through rail, road and ports, to facilitate global trade and offer solutions to the problems of developing countries as the Chinese saying goes, If you want to be rich, build roads first. Many people in China, and also in the developing world, feel optimistic about this initiative, and mock Europe and the US for failing to match its vision.

Aktau, Kazakhstan, October 2017. The citys port offers access to the Caspian Sea; from 2016 to 2020, trade between China and the Caucasus region almost doubled

A monument in Nurkent, Kazakhstan, October 2017. The newly built town will accommodate 100,000 workers serving the nearby Khorgos dry port. A Chinese logistics company has 49% ownership of the land

The belt and road was not a decision taken on a whim. The idea comes from an article by Mao Zedong titled People of the world, unite and defeat the US aggressors and all their lackeys, published in 1970 and commonly known as the 520 statement. In this article, Mao prompted the developing world to be united and fight against western political power led by the US. He stressed the importance of nationalist revolutions, independence and liberation movements as the wave of unstoppable historical change. Mao quoted the Confucian philosopher Mencius a just cause attracts much support, an unjust one finds little to illustrate his belief that people in the world would triumph over Anglo-American imperialism.

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When my generation was growing up, these thoughts permeated the entire country. I belong to the same generation as Xi. We were encouraged to have the entire motherland in mind and the whole world in view and to start revolutions everywhere in the world. These arrogant ideas relate to the ideology of that era. Based on these thoughts, the belt and road initiative is a strategic move that corresponds to the countrys rapid development. The question is: will its goals be achieved in a world that is much more complicated than it once was?

Sihanoukville, Cambodia, December 2019. The once quiet tourist town on the coast has been transformed, its skyline dominated by casinos built to accommodate those seeking to avoid the ban on gambling in mainland China. More than 90% of businesses are Chinese-owned and locals complain the newcomers are turning the city into a de facto colony, forcing up rents and making them second-class citizens in their homeland

Monteleones photographs are broad in scope and encompass many stories and strange landscapes. The Italian photographer began his project in Russia in 2014 before visiting vast rail and road projects across Asia; container ports; factories; casinos; and the Grand Renaissance dam in Ethiopia. The images clearly depict Chinas strategic ambitions, very different from the original Silk Road, which operated from around 130BC until the mid-15th century. The Silk Road was a network of trade routes, whereas the belt and road initiative embeds a political ambition beyond commerce. The issue in question here is: who will be the centre of the world? Who will rise to world power?

A copy of Moscows St Basils Cathedral in Manzhouli, China, August 2015. The small city on the Russian border is one of Chinas biggest trade hubs. The Ukrainian crisis has given fresh impetus to Chinese efforts to forge a closer relationship between the two nations, as Russia faces sanctions from the west

From my perspective, China refuses to waver in its policies, no matter what setbacks it encounters. The belt and road initiative is its counterattack in a global game of chess. The democracies of Europe and the US are very different from China.

Under pressure to solve short-term problems during their terms of office in order to get re-elected, western governments concentrate their efforts on capital projects and economic competition. The corporatocratic west, primarily measuring political success according to economic profitability, has lost its vision of pursuing mutual benefit and the wellbeing of humankind.

This, however, is not to say that China is necessarily bringing real benefits to the developing world. The belt and road initiative, launched to benefit China, is tinted with colonialism.

It leads this ancient country of 1.4 billion people to a swamp of pragmatism and egoism. While China is pumped up with ambition, it also sinks into contradiction and confusion, because of its lack of self-awareness. The ideological superstructure and economic base will be at odds with each other for a long time.

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Ai Weiwei on the new Silk Road: 'This is China's counterattack in a global game of chess' - The Guardian