Dossiers
The characters, and the rooms they actually sit in
Sixteen principals. Each card is a loyalty statement: who they lead, who they partner, and who they would rather not photograph.
President · United States
Donald J. Trump
America first, hemisphere first — alliances as invoices.
General Secretary & President · People’s Republic of China
Xi Jinping
The long game: minerals, energy, and a deal with Washington that never quite closes.
President · Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin
The war in Ukraine first; China as market and shield; the rest as weather.
Prime Minister · India
Narendra Modi
Strategic autonomy — sit with everyone, marry no one.
Crown Prince & Prime Minister · Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Mohammed bin Salman
A new Sunni security roof — still mortgaged to the American one.
President · Türkiye
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
A NATO member building a Sunni concert around himself.
Prime Minister · Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif
The indispensable Muslim middleman — troops for Riyadh, talks for Hormuz, friendship for Beijing.
President · Islamic Republic of Iran
Masoud Pezeshkian
A civilian president in a war the security state still owns.
Prime Minister · State of Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu
The American war guarantee — used, not worshipped.
President · Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Survival first; Europe as home; America as the variable.
Prime Minister · United Kingdom
Keir Starmer
The transatlantic translator — Atlanticist by doctrine, European by necessity.
President · French Republic
Emmanuel Macron
European strategic autonomy — said louder now that America invoices.
Prime Minister · Japan
Sanae Takaichi
The most loyal capital in the ledger — and the one Washington just had to bail out.
President · Mexico
Claudia Sheinbaum
The neighbour who cannot leave the room — and will not become a province.
Prime Minister · Italy
Giorgia Meloni
The European who can still get a hearing in Mar-a-Lago.
President · Federative Republic of Brazil
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
The Global South as a speaking part — not a Chinese script.