Trump Revives the ‘Great Game’ – And He is Winning

A growing number of analysts are now saying the world has entered a new era of great power competition called the Great Game. This idea comes from the 1800s when the British and Russian empires fought a long and quiet struggle for control over Central Asia. Today, that same kind of rivalry has returned, but this time it is being led by the United States and China. According to recent reporting, Donald Trump is not just part of this new Great Game. He is actively shaping it and winning key battles even as the war in Ukraine remains unresolved.

What the Great Game Originally Meant

The original Great Game was a rivalry between the British and Russian empires in the 19th century. It focused on Afghanistan, Persia, Tibet, and Central Asia. Britain wanted to protect India, which was its most valuable colony. Russia wanted to expand south and gain access to warm water ports and new trade routes. Both sides used military pressure, espionage, and shifting alliances to block each other.

Neither side wanted a full war, but both pushed forward through proxy conflicts, secret deals, and the control of smaller nations. According to historians, Russia conquered much of Central Asia while Britain built a chain of protectorates to keep Russia away from India. The struggle ended in the early 1900s when borders were formally agreed through diplomacy.

The phrase Great Game was made famous by Rudyard Kipling and described a world where big powers treated smaller countries as pieces on a chessboard.

How the Great Game Has Returned

Today, analysts argue the world has returned to this same model. One Financial Times writer says the modern Great Game is now between the United States and China. It is no longer about spices and opium. It is about fossil fuels, rare earth minerals, shipping routes, fiber optic cables, and control of key regions like Latin America and the Arctic.

The new Great Game is built on three pillars called mining, mapping, and mercantilism.

Mining refers to the race to control oil, gas, and rare earth minerals. Venezuela and Greenland both have these resources and they also have strategic ports. China has already invested in Greenland through a state owned company working at the Kvanefjeld mineral field. China has also expanded energy and infrastructure projects in Latin America.

Mapping refers to the detailed tracking of land and sea boundaries. Countries now use sonar and submarines to map the ocean floor. Under international law, a country can claim economic rights 200 nautical miles from its continental shelf. That means whoever maps first can claim more resources. The United States, Russia, and China are all racing to map the Arctic. China even sent submarines under Arctic ice this past summer.

Mercantilism means using economic power to dominate trade and supply chains. Both the United States and China are trying to lock in control over shipping, minerals, energy, and industrial production.

Trump’s Version of the Great Game

Trump has embraced this power driven approach openly. According to the Financial Times, what is happening in Venezuela and Greenland is not just about defending American territory. It is about global competition with China.

China has been expanding in Latin America through energy and infrastructure deals. Trump responded by acting against Venezuela, which holds vast fossil fuel and mineral wealth. Greenland is also central to this struggle because it holds rare earths, energy, and sits at the gateway to the Arctic.

Trump’s goal is to keep China out of the Arctic. Chinese firms have moved into Greenland and China has increased diplomacy there. Beijing and Moscow now work together in the High North where new shipping routes, fisheries, fiber optic cables, and massive untapped energy reserves are at stake.

Trump’s strategy is to get ahead of China by controlling territory and alliances before China can lock them down. The Financial Times describes this as a forward strategy where countries try to win without starting a full war. This leads to shadow conflicts, pressure on smaller nations, and battles over borders and resources.

Why Venezuela, Syria, Cuba, and Iran Matter

In this new Great Game, every shift of power matters. With Syria, Venezuela, and possibly Cuba and Iran falling toward the West, Trump is gaining ground even as Russia and Ukraine remain locked in conflict.

The Great Game has always been about weakening rival spheres of influence. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea form a loose anti American bloc, but their alliances are fragile. Even China and Russia are partners mainly out of convenience in places like the Arctic.

As the Financial Times notes, alliances in the Great Game are never stable. Countries change sides. Buffer states become battlegrounds. Power flows toward whoever controls resources and trade routes.

Trump is using this reality to push American influence forward while China tries to hold ground.

The Financial Times says this new Great Game will not be decided by one war. It will play out through proxy conflicts, trade battles, and territorial moves across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

One writer quotes historian Peter Hopkirk, who said that some believe the Great Game never really ended and simply became the Cold War. He wrote that it was driven by fear, suspicion, and misunderstanding, which are all visible again today.

Even Trump’s advisers acknowledge that many countries will not fight to defend distant territories like Greenland. Polls show only 38 percent of Germans and just 16 percent of Italians of fighting age would defend their own countries. That weakness gives Trump more room to move.

Trump Is Winning the New Great Game

While Russia and Ukraine remain unresolved, Trump has gained major ground elsewhere. By pushing back against Chinese expansion in Latin America and the Arctic, by challenging old assumptions about territory and alliances, and by forcing the world to operate in terms of power and resources again, Trump has put the United States back at the center of global competition.

The original Great Game was about who controlled the future of Eurasia. The new Great Game is about who controls energy, minerals, shipping, and data. Trump understands this and is acting on it, knocking down one political alliance after another.

In a world where power decides everything, Trump is not retreating. He is playing to win.