Empire decline
Geneva: When the UN Moved a Continent Over One Visa
In 1988 the General Assembly voted 154-2 to relocate to Switzerland rather than let the host state pick who speaks. This week, the same thing happened.
History
explainer
The Case for War: What Counts as an Act of War?
No treaty defines an act of war. Not the UN Charter, not NATO's Article 5. Here's the history of that silence, and who it serves.
explainer
How Much of Your Fuel and Power Bill Is Tax?
Taxes are 52% of the EU petrol price, but only 29% of the electricity bill, down from 41%. Here's why, and why the tax is the only part you can see.
History
After the Wall: How 15 Border Walls Became 70
How many border walls are there, when were they built, and do they work? Six in ten people now live behind one. Almost all were built after 2000.
History
The Free Sea: How Safe Passage Became a Right
Can a country charge ships a toll to pass? The history of freedom of navigation, from privateering to the Declaration of Paris to UNCLOS, and who pays.
Investigation
The Erasure
Thirty universities hit. The Pasteur Institute bombed. Golestan Palace damaged. This is not collateral damage. This is cultural annihilation. They did it in Iraq, the libraries, the museums, the memory of Mesopotamia. Now they're doing it to Persia. Make them stupid. Make them forget.
Investigation
When We Stopped Scaring Them
We march on Saturday, post on Sunday, work on Monday. The numbers keep growing. The results keep shrinking. What changed? They learned to absorb us. The day we scare them again is the day we stop asking and start stopping.
Taxation
Ancient Taxes vs Modern Taxes: How 1-5% Became 50%
A Roman peasant paid 1-5% in taxes. A medieval serf paid 10-20%. You pay 40-55%. The historical comparison that exposes how they normalized unprecedented extraction, and convinced you it's the price of civilization.