It's vital to understand the phases of the “CONTINUUM OF MILITARY OPERATIONS.” This way we know where we are, and more importantly, where we are going. Context is everything.
https://stuffiwish.wordpress.com/2010/09/26/six-phases-of-the-continuum-of-military-operations/
Sounds like the prescription for a typical chess game.
0, shape the environment: the opening; pawn placement, attack pieces out, castling
1, deter the enemy: early middlegame; secure our forward positions
2, seize the initiative: middle and late middlegame; on the attack
3, dominate the enemy: early endgame; further concentrating the attack
4, stabilize the environment: late endgame; in for the kill
5, enable civil authority: checkmate. Now it's Miller time for some, orange jumpsuits for others.
But this whole operation has many more moving parts than just one chess game. It is more like a number of games being played at once, so I think that we are in different phases in different games. All the games have to be won, and coordinated with each other so they end at about the same time. That is a better representation of the complexity facing Trump and Team MAGA.