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Strategic narratives shaping global affairs
88 positions · 47 actors
A strategic narrative is the story a state, a government or a movement tells about a dispute: what is at stake, who is responsible, what should follow. Narratives are not facts and not our view. They are the claims that recur in an actor's own statements and in the outlets that carry them, and this page exists to show them side by side.
Each entry below is a position: one claim, attributed to the actor that voices it, with the disputes it appears in and the outlets that promote it. Where two actors argue the same dispute, their positions face each other on that dispute's page. A position page explains the claim, the reasoning the position offers and what the recent events show.
Tags group positions by what they are about (security, trade, sovereignty and so on) and by the worldview they rest on. A tag is a reading aid, not a verdict.
The positions are written and merged by hand, each from claims that recur in an actor's statements. Events are matched to them by keyword rules with a model check. The counts and timelines come from the headlines gathered since January 2026, and a claim enters the list only once it has recurred long enough to deserve an entry.
The best place to see a narrative is the actor's own channel. For the four largest voices on this page:
Reading them side by side is the quickest way to see where the stories part.
The South China Sea must follow the rules-based maritime order
Russia's war is a defensive special military operation; Ukraine strikes are terror
NATO encirclement/provocation is the aggressor; Russia responds defensively
US imperial/hegemonic coercion of smaller sovereign states
The war is a US/NATO proxy war; Western aid prolongs it; freeze/settle
Western/US coercive interventions deserve legal and humanitarian scrutiny
Sanctions on Russia are ineffective and backfire on the West
Events vindicate Russia, and Washington negotiates in bad faith
Intra-Western disputes expose Western hypocrisy, disunity and decline
US democracy and institutions are decaying (adversarial state-media reading)
North Korea's deterrent and its Russia/China partnerships are legitimate
The Zelensky government is corrupt and illegitimate
Arctic resource development and shipping are normal opportunity
US alliances on the peninsula are a containment instrument
A multipolar order is the legitimate alternative to US hegemony
Georgia's government rightly resisted a Western-funded destabilisation
The Sahel juntas rightly chose new partners free of colonial conditions
US imperial/hegemonic coercion of smaller sovereign states
Western/US coercive interventions deserve legal and humanitarian scrutiny
Sanctions/pressure are conditional; the Global South asserts buyer autonomy
A multipolar order is the legitimate alternative to US hegemony
China's trade/tech measures are lawful and normal; the US is the aggressor
Taiwan, the SCS and the Senkakus are Chinese territory; foreign interference provokes
Intra-Western disputes expose Western hypocrisy, disunity and decline
Japan is reviving militarism behind a pacifist facade
US democracy and institutions are decaying (adversarial state-media reading)
North Korea's deterrent and its Russia/China partnerships are legitimate
Arctic resource development and shipping are normal opportunity
The Thailand-Cambodia clash as an occasion for great-power mediation
US alliances on the peninsula are a containment instrument
Ukraine's war is legitimate national defense deserving full support
Russia is an aggressive threat; deterrence and rearmament are justified
The US alliance is unreliable and delivering less than promised
Western/US coercive interventions deserve legal and humanitarian scrutiny
Tariffs and trade coercion are self-harming economic disruption
Europe needs digital sovereignty against US tech dominance
The South Caucasus is tilting West; engagement and the settlement are gains
Turkey is sliding into authoritarianism (Western liberal critique)
Latin America still chooses rules-based Western terms over rivals
Israel's Gaza/West Bank campaign is a humanitarian catastrophe / apartheid
The Arab world's embrace of the new Syria is legitimate, and Israeli strikes violate its sovereignty
Turkey is a legitimate independent middle power and broker
The post-Assad transition is legitimate; foreign forces should leave
New recognition/basing/minerals partnerships are reordering the Horn
The South Caucasus is tilting West; engagement and the settlement are gains
A negotiated US-Iran settlement is the right course; the strike-and-talk cycle must end in a deal
Tariffs and trade coercion are self-harming economic disruption
The Arab world's embrace of the new Syria is legitimate, and Israeli strikes violate its sovereignty
External mediation and mineral deals are finally stabilising the Great Lakes
Somalia's fragility and civilian harm are deepening
Kurdish political rights and self-administration deserve protection
US imperial/hegemonic coercion of smaller sovereign states
Western/US coercive interventions deserve legal and humanitarian scrutiny
Tariffs and trade coercion are self-harming economic disruption
Sanctions/pressure are conditional; the Global South asserts buyer autonomy
Mexico's own offensive against the cartels is making progress
The US alliance is unreliable and delivering less than promised
US imperial/hegemonic coercion of smaller sovereign states
Tariffs and trade coercion are self-harming economic disruption
Alberta separatism is a dangerous bluff and an opening for outside pressure
The Axis of Resistance is legitimate anti-Israel/anti-US liberation
Iran's nuclear program, system and Hormuz stance are sovereign rights
Western/US coercive interventions deserve legal and humanitarian scrutiny
Washington negotiates with Iran in bad faith: talks under fire, broken commitments, ultimatums
The Israel-US-Saudi coalition: Iran is an illegitimate existential threat
Israel's campaigns are existential self-defense after October 7
Erdogan's Turkey is a two-faced, hostile actor
The new Syrian government are jihadists; normalisation legitimises them
US imperial/hegemonic coercion of smaller sovereign states
Western/US coercive interventions deserve legal and humanitarian scrutiny
Tariffs and trade coercion are self-harming economic disruption
Sanctions/pressure are conditional; the Global South asserts buyer autonomy
China is a strategic competitor; firmness, derisking and export controls justified
Taiwan/Japan under Chinese coercion; deterrence and administration legitimate
North Korea's proliferation and closed door are a hardening threat
Ukraine's war is legitimate national defense deserving full support
The US alliance is unreliable and delivering less than promised
North Korea's proliferation and closed door are a hardening threat
The Israel-US-Saudi coalition: Iran is an illegitimate existential threat
The Arab world's embrace of the new Syria is legitimate, and Israeli strikes violate its sovereignty