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Strategic narratives shaping global affairs
14 positions · 14 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.
Major powers compete for influence, security, and dominance, shaping global alignments and conflicts. Great Power Competition →
The Israel-US-Saudi coalition: Iran is an illegitimate existential threat
China is a strategic competitor; firmness, derisking and export controls justified
North Korea's proliferation and closed door are a hardening threat
Pressure on the governments in Caracas and Havana is justified
Cartels are terrorists and Mexico's state is compromised; US pressure and intervention are justified
Reopened US-Russia channel and energy waivers are pragmatic realism
US strategic expansion (Greenland, hemisphere) is legitimate necessity
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