---
id: glossary:proximity-games
title: Proximity Games
description: Jiang Lens glossary entry for proximity games, with dated source refs, episode links, aliases, and related lens pages.
kind: glossary
aliases:
  - nearest game
  - domestic payoff
  - factional game
  - local incentive game
related_lens:
  - proximity-games-and-elite-overproduction
  - game-theory
  - legitimacy-fiction
---

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# Proximity Games

**Aliases:** nearest game, domestic payoff, factional game, local incentive game.

> **Fast answer:** Proximity games name Jiang's game-theory correction that the nearest payoff can govern the visible geopolitical move. A war, scandal, alliance, or threat may look international while actually rewarding a domestic faction, elite coalition, bureaucracy, election machine, or status group.

## What Jiang Means

The term grows out of Jiang's larger game theory method: identify players, rules, incentives, and real rewards. Proximity games add one recurring result. The actor may not be maximizing the public objective. It may be winning a nearer game inside the party, state, bureaucracy, or elite class.

That does not make geopolitics fake. It means the visible board can be downstream of a smaller board that is more urgent to the people making decisions.

## Where Jiang Says It

| Source | Timestamp / ref | What to inspect | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-19, [The Nearest War Wins](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-noqqgy4boby.md) | `video:predictive-history-noqqgy4boby@transcript:v1#seg-0013`, `#seg-0015`, `#seg-0016` | The nearest game governs | Direct concept source. |
| 2025-11-24, [When the West Loses Energy, Capital Looks for Pax Judaica](https://jianglens.com/interviews/interview-gssim9xnrae.md) | `video:interview-gssim9xnrae@transcript:v1#seg-0010`, `#seg-0011` | Domestic faction payoffs | Elite game extension. |
| 2025-12-31, [History Becomes Power When Imagination Collapses](https://jianglens.com/interviews/interview-mcjno0xrly8.md) | `video:interview-mcjno0xrly8@transcript:v1#seg-0077`, `#seg-0078` | Internal elite conflict | Wider application. |

## How To Use This Term

Use this term when a public conflict seems too self-damaging unless a nearer factional payoff is named.

Do not use it to dismiss material strategy; use it to ask which game is closest to the decision-maker.

## Related Lens Pages

- [Proximity Games And Elite Overproduction](https://jianglens.com/docs/lens/proximity-games-and-elite-overproduction.md)
- [Game Theory](https://jianglens.com/docs/lens/game-theory.md)
- [Legitimacy Fiction](https://jianglens.com/docs/lens/legitimacy-fiction.md)