Moves That Matter: Power, Politics, and the Push for Freedom

Keeping track of everything can be…exhausting. So this weekly roundup will highlight the moves that matter (hence the name!).

Trump’s pardons, deals, and power plays highlight the rising threat of privatized power. A new proposed plan for Ukraine was drafted in consultation with Moscow. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, a plan for peace reminds us that diplomacy and democracy are different games. And across it all, RDI’s Frontlines of Freedom Conference is rallying the pro-democracy camp to defend freedom.

While power plays were changing the board, The Next Move was pulling back the curtain, offering strategic insights, and thinking moves ahead.

Thanks, as always, for your readership and support!

— The Next Move team

Pardons, Profits, and Private Power

Trump pardons a crypto billionaire with business ties to his family. He meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Trump’s business ventures boom in Saudi Arabia. Swiss executives shower him with gold—and tariffs on Swiss goods suddenly drop.

The common thread? A dangerous slide toward the privatization of power.

The Privatization of American Power

Garry Kasparov · Nov 18

RDI Founder Garry Kasparov unpacks what happens when power becomes privatized for personal gain—and warns of the United States’ troubling shift towards it. Garry draws on lessons from Russia to warn of an unchecked Oval Office and the urgent need to rein it in.

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The Price of Peace

The Trump administration has proposed a peace plan in Ukraine—after consulting Moscow, not Kyiv. The 28-point settlement plan would require Ukraine to surrender land and limit the size of its army and weaponry, echoing long-held demands by Russia.

Kasparov on the Kremlin

Playing Russia’s Game: When America is Desperate for Deals, Dictators Win

Fatima Abo Alasrar · Aug 28

Fatima Abo Alasrar dissects a long-held pattern in Washington’s diplomacy with dictators: transaction over systemic change. While dictators play the long game, America chases quick diplomatic wins. If Russia wants a bargain, all it has to do is wait.

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When Deviant Diplomacy Delivers

This week, the United Nations voted to authorize the US’s post-war plan for Gaza. A ceasefire in the region is a win, but many were reluctant to credit the very man who brokered it: Donald Trump.

How Trump Got a Gaza Ceasefire

Uriel Epshtein and Evan Gottesman · Oct 10

RDI’s Uriel Epshtein and Evan Gottesman dissect how the very qualities that make Trump dangerous to America—his distortion of reality, aversion to expertise, and disregard for precedent—also made him uniquely capable of brokering a ceasefire in Gaza.

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Frontlines of Freedom

At The Next Move we’re all about defending democracy and fighting authoritarianism. And RDI’s Frontlines of Freedom Conference (FOFCON) is bringing the pro-democracy camp together to build a culture of freedom.

To get in the spirit of FOFCON, RDI is launching the FOFCON Pod. Interviews with RDI Senior Fellow Jay Nordlinger and the courageous dissidents who will be joining us at FOFCON in DC next month.

Register to attend FOFCON on December 9-10 in DC, and join us in defending liberty.

FOFCON Pod: When Garry Met Gorby

The Next Move, Garry Kasparov, and Jay Nordlinger · Nov 15

On the first episode of the FOFCON Pod, RDI Senior Fellow Jay Nordlinger is joined by RDI Founder and Chairman Garry Kasparov. Garry talks about an important chess anniversary, the intersection of Russian history and democracy, Putin’s useful idiots in America, and his experience meeting Mikhail Gorbachev.

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Moves That Matter…Less

There’s no question that we’re seeing leaders flooding the zone—dominating headlines with noise to distract you from seeing the moves that mattered.

Each week, we’ll cut through the noise and raise a flag when something looks like a red herring: the cheap moves, shiny side quests, and headline-grabbers that keep you from seeing the whole board.

Funeral Invitation Snub

Thursday saw a parade of former presidents and top officials at Dick Cheney’s funeral. One top leader of the GOP was noticeably absent from the gathering: President Trump. Headlines honed in on the snub. Dramatic? Sure. But in the larger fight for democracy, is this really a move that matters? Or just a distraction from the whole board?