Do not assume the enemy shares your end goal

Why can a tactic such as deliberately seeking stalemate make strategic sense?

Because the opponent may be pursuing a different end goal, so behavior that looks irrational under your objective can be rational under theirs.

A viewer compares the earlier discussion with a fictional commander using stalemate as a strategy. The comparison supports the underlying lesson: an opponent's desired end state cannot be assumed to match one's own. Conduct that appears illogical may be serving delay, survival, distraction, or another objective rather than the decisive result the observer expects. Deception succeeds more easily when a commander mistakes personal assumptions about victory for a universal rule of behavior.