International Diplomacy and the SSH

An SSH-based analysis of the recent meeting of President Trump and Head of State Zelensky

There is no need to recap the events of yesterday’s diplomatic debacle, which some have noted is literally unprecedented in world history. And what we saw here is the result of a Gamma in a Situational Alpha position being confronted, much to his dismay and detriment, by a genuine Alpha.

Consider the players:

US President Donald Trump

Mega-Alpha. Elite background. Massively successful in business and politics. Women are uniformly top-tier. Has all the Alpha characteristics, including natural charisma, natural leadership, and an inclination to ridicule, bully, and steamroll those who choose to oppose him. Physically large man.

Ukraine’s unelected Head of State Vladimir Zelensky

Gamma and Situational Alpha. Ethnepo baby. Manufactured success and Clown World puppet. Modest success as an entertainer in a very small market. More attractive wife than one would anticipate, but likely provided to him as a reward and control mechanism. Physical dwarf.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance

Delta with some Gamma characteristics. Situational Bravo. Humble background, with elite education and manufactured success. Average wife acquired via racial arbitrage. Physically large man.

Reviewing the transcript, what struck me most was the way that the Gamma went directly at the Situational Bravo rather than at the Alpha. Zelensky did so because he correctly read Vance as being psychologically weaker than his situational status tends to suggest. Not only did Zelensky reportedly refer to Vance in a vulgar and dismissive manner, albeit in classic passive-aggressive Gamma style under his breath and in a foreign language, but he attacked Vance as part of his attempt to evade the topic that was under discussion, which was the observable fact that Russia has already won its war with Ukraine and therefore diplomacy is necessary to end the war before Ukraine is forced to accept an unconditional surrender.

Zelensky: He broke this ceasefire. He killed our people, and he didn't exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisons, but he didn't do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you asking me about? What did it mean?

Vance: I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country.

Zelensky: Yes, but —

Vance: Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect. I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for being willing to bring an end to this conflict.

Zelensky: Have you — have you ever been to Ukraine? Have you seen what problems we have?

Notice how the Gamma is simply firing incoherent rhetorical salvos in a desperate attempt to redirect the conversation. And these salvos are not only incoherent, but characteristically dishonest. Just to give one example: Russia did not break the Minsk Accords, Ukraine broke them at the behest of the UK and Boris Johnson’s promises of NATO support.

Here’s where it becomes apparent that Vance is not a Bravo, but a Delta in a Situational Bravo position. Instead of coming back hard at Zelensky like a natural Bravo would - and Zelensky has given him no shortage of targets to address - Vance’s initial and instinctive reaction is to defend himself.

Vance: I have been to —

Zelensky: Come once.

Vance: I have actually — I've actually watched and seen the stories…

Now, what’s fascinating about Vance’s reaction is that he actually manages to catch himself in mid-response, perhaps because he sees how quickly a gleeful Zelensky continues his attack the moment he sees the weakness of Vance’s response, before Vance can even finish his first sentence. He stops himself in mid-sentence, and turns what was a weak Delta response into a more effective Bravo response that calls out the Gamma and disciplines his attempt to subvert the situation.

Vance: I have actually — I've actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Are — Do you disagree that you've had problems bringing people into your military, and do you think that it's respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?

It’s not a strong response, as his repeated use of the word “actually” and his stumbling over his words tends to indicate, but it’s still much better than allowing Zelensky to change the subject to Vance’s previous failure to visit Ukraine, which, of course, never held any relevance to the matter at hand at all. Vance’s response is enough to slow Zelensky down and provoke him into muttering “bitch” under his breath, but having sensed Vance’s weakness, Zelensky remains confident enough to try to take control of the conversation. And once again, Vance retreats into a reactive and submissive Delta response.

Zelensky: A lot of — a lot of questions. Let's start from the beginning.

Vance: Sure.

Zelensky: First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, you have nice ocean and don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future.

At this point, the Alpha has seen enough. He gave his Situational Bravo his chance to control the situation, the Situational Bravo failed due to his Delta lack of ability to discipline the Gamma, and so it’s time for the Alpha to drop the hammer on the Gamma and restore order to the discourse.

Trump: You don't know that.

Zelensky: God bless you. God bless you —

Trump: Don't tell us what we're going to feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel.

Zelensky: I'm not telling you, I'm not saying —

Trump: Because you're in no position to dictate that. You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel. We're going to feel very good. We're gonna feel very good and very strong.

Zelensky: You're going to feel influence —

Trump: You're right now not in a very good position. You've allowed yourself to be in a very bad position, and he [Vance] happens to be right about it.

Zelensky: From the very beginning of the war —

Trump: You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards, but right now, you're playing cards. You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. You're gambling with World War III, and what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that's backed you far more than a lot of people said they should.

Notice in particular how the Delta Vance tries to respond to the Gamma Zelensky’s dishonest and incoherent rhetoric with dialectic, while the Alpha Trump completely ignores the Gamma’s subversive attempts to reframe and pays absolutely no attention to anything he attempts to interject. And when the Gamma later attempts to quibble with the Alpha’s rhetoric and pretends to accept his metaphor at face value - “I’m not playing cards” - it looks even weaker than Vance’s inability to address Zelensky’s rhetoric.

If you don’t understand why Alphas matter and why it is virtually impossible to succeed over time without one helming an organizational hierarchy, this brief exchange should suffice to educate you on the concept.