The Game and How to Play it

'What game have you brought?' asked the caliph.
'A boardgame', said the visitor. 'See? The pieces move around, as in battle.'
'Who am I in this game? Who are you?'
'Well, I'm king, and you could be a pawn…'
'Can't I be king?'
'That's irrelevant. This game's called Democracy. Everyone's equal.'
'What does it cost?'
'For the first square, one drop of oil. For the second, two drops. For the third, four. Etcetera.'
'Deal.'
A month later, the caliph sent a message. 'Regrettably, we don't have enough oil.'
The reply: 'You broke our agreement. Our countries are now at war.'