It’s Sunday, January 4, and in the popular Netflix series Squid Game, the very first challenge is a childhood classic: Red Light, Green Light. Players are told they have five minutes to cross a field, and they can only move when the giant doll says, “Green Light.” When she says “Red Light”—anyone caught moving is eliminated.
At first, everyone treats it like a joke. Nervous laughter, playful shoves. Then the man at the front twitches during a red light—and is shot. The field goes silent, and in that split second, everyone understands: this isn’t a game anymore.
Now imagine Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro as the first contestant. With his operation over the weekend, Donald Trump just showed the world that he has rules, and he isn’t playing a game.
One player in particular is terrified: Iran.
