There are a number of examples of decisions that were made in American history that were done to protect the elite class. Howard Zinn dedicates an entire book on this very topic (A People's History of the United States.) He begins his narrative with the birth of the United States and how the establishment instigated the conflict with Great Britain in an effort to create more wealth for themselves. Most of the middling and lower classes in the colonies had very little to gain from independence from England. They were essentially trading one elite group for the other. For this reason, there was draft violence throughout the colonies as the lower classes were forced to fight this conflict. He examines every American conflict in the same way: they are fought to protect the interests of the powerful.
The use of the American military throughout history to protect the interests of the wealthy needs be discussed when altering the standard narrative. History textbooks generally discuss American wars being fought to protect democracy and freedom around the world. If you think about American involvement in World War I, it can be stated that American forces were sent to Europe to protect the interests of banks and munitions dealers that were creditors to the Allied Powers. Congress itself drew the same conclusion in the 1920's (Nye Committee.) The United States would commit to the same action a generation later in World War II when it instigated Japan to war in an effort to protect financial efforts in China. The narrative continues into the Cold War and more recently with the War on Terror. When you examine the acts of the United States through the lens of who benefits from different actions, the answer is usually the "chess players" that you reference in your question.
**The link to the study guide below provides chapter summaries of the book that I have referenced. There are countless examples of what you are looking for there.
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