Republican narrative

You can’t blame Kim Jong-un for flexing North Korea’s military muscle when Biden is recklessly saber-rattling with Taiwan and China. How does Kim know the US won't also team up with South Korea for an invasion of the North? Trump's relationship with and policies towards North Korea maintained stability in the Korean Peninsula.

Democratic narrative

Kim Jong-Un's geopolitical actions have been erratic, and his missile launches are destabilizing the Peninsula. Instead of provoking a confrontation, the leader should take the Biden administration up on its offer to meet without preconditions, and settle any of his grievances peacefully. Biden is showing strength and prudence in the region.

Nerd narrative

There is a 33% chance that, if there's an offensive detonation anywhere by 2050, there will be at least one resulting fatality in North Korea, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Establishment-critical narrative

The goals laid out in the Biden administration's first national security strategy harken to the dark days of the Cold War and will eventually bring instability and conflicts across the world, through their binary opposition mindset and zero-sum thinking. Despite claiming to seek diplomacy over aggression, Wednesday's announcement indicates that the US seeks to launch geopolitical competition against other countries.

Pro-establishment narrative

The US must be honest about the threat China and Russia pose to global stability. The US is still willing to work with China when the countries’ values align, but as long as the nation continues to expand its military, the US must be prepared to defend liberal and democratic values. Moscow's hostility and recent military aggression demonstrate it poses a threat, and it's important that the US fortifies NATO's eastern flank and builds energy resiliency at home and among allies.

Nerd narrative

There's a 20% chance that there will be a US-China war by 2035, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Narrative A

Refugees and migrants have been brutally treated by Latvian border control while being arbitrarily held at undisclosed sites in Latvian forests. This report follows similar reports from Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania in what is a clear breach of EU and international law. This is an egregious violation of fundamental human rights.

Narrative B

The report makes inflammatory allegations of widespread border abuse based on the testimony of only 17 people - most of whom were Iraqi nationals who had very little idea of the legality of their crossing. Amnesty International has seen its reputation decline in recent months over its coverage of Ukraine. This report is unfair and out of context.

Progressive narrative

A number of European countries, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec, have adopted "secularist" laws that prohibit the wearing of religious symbols in public, including religious dress. Such laws reflect a homogenization of society and repression of the diverse experiences and motivations people have for expressing their religion through clothing, especially Muslim women. Denying them the ability to choose whether to wear a veil removes their autonomy and sense of self.

Conservative narrative

Europe is the beacon of secular liberal democracy and, where public spaces are shared by such multicultural and diverse groups as make up many populations in European countries, rules about dress can and should be imposed to stop any one group from dominating another. Islamists thrive on the idea of Muslims being a society-within-a-society - governments must put a stop to such notions to prevent sectarian fractures.

Cynical narrative

This ban is Islamophobic and aimed at tackling a non-existent problem, as muslims are already well integrated in Swiss society. The right-wing are simply using the niqab to rally support and give the population something to project their fears onto.

Pro-establishment narrative

The fallout from the Malian government's hostility towards France and its European partners is becoming increasingly apparent. Now that the shadowy Russian Wagner group is active in the country, the security situation is rapidly deteriorating. Wagner isn't focused on the people's security but rather on the pursuit of its own and Moscow's interests. The West is now well-advised to offer its anti-terror support to countries in West Africa.

Establishment-critical narrative

The West's moves in resource-rich Mali, and in the entirety of the Sahel, aren't motivated by the fight against jihadist insurgents, to promote democracy, or to secure a "rule-based order." Western members of the UN are only concerned with defending their own geostrategic interests - including against Russia. The so-called stabilization mission MINUSMA serves only as a tool for power projection, after the end of French neo-colonialism in Mali.

Anti-Russia narrative

While Ukraine's counteroffensive continues to press on, Russia's decision to evacuate residents from Kherson reveals that Moscow's hold on territories it claims to have annexed is weakening.

Pro-Russia narrative

The decision to help evacuate residents of Kherson is simply about saving lives - the announcement does not mean Russia is planning a mass evacuation from the territory, nor that Russian forces have plans to retreat.

Nerd narrative

There's a 50% chance that Ukraine will regain control of Kherson by Dec. 20, 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Republican narrative

Biden declared the pandemic over, yet his admin. continues to abuse the emergency declaration — renewed 11 times — allowing the government to bloat its budget, stifle private insurance competition, and steal public health policy power away from the states. This government overreach must end, and federal emergency laws must be reconsidered.

Democratic narrative

COVID isn’t done with us, and the steady flow of cases and deaths proves it. Extending the emergency declaration keeps millions of potential COVID patients on Medicaid so doctors can treat them more easily. The order also allows Congress to provide funds needed for vaccines, tests, and other important COVID-related resources more easily. This is a logical option.

Nerd narrative

There's a 24% chance that any US state will re-implement a general indoor mask mandate before February 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Pro-establishment narrative

An overwhelming number of countries have Ukraine’s back, and more might soon join in opposing Russia’s aggression. This vote is confirmation that Russia's actions are terrorism and, since no one should negotiate with terrorists, this conflict can only end by beating Russia militarily.

Establishment-critical narrative

The West must be careful with how it demonizes the Kremlin. Designating Russia a terrorist regime is a dangerous move that corners Putin — whose threats of nuclear weapons must be taken seriously — and will only backfire by damaging future peace efforts. Once this route is taken, there's no going back, and this isn't the right time or the right tool.

Left narrative

Truss was never going to make a good PM, and it's now too late for her to be just an ordinarily bad one. Her lackluster speech saw her avoid responsibility and refuse to apologize, likely losing what little support she had left. It's clear that time's up for the self-serving Conservative party, which has demolished its credibility completely.

Right narrative

The antigrowth coalition has wrongly, albeit successfully, pointed its finger at the government for the current — and worldwide — economic turmoil, and Truss has foolishly submitted to its pressure. Rather than sticking with the government's original agenda, the embattled PM has embarrassingly backpedaled — a futile and dangerous move that won't see a recovering economy. U-turns on tax cuts aren't the answer.

Nerd narrative

There is a 17% chance that cost of living riots will happen in the UK before March 1, 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Left narrative

The US must follow the lead of other countries and tighten its gun laws if it's ever going to reduce the number of mass shootings. There are reams of evidence to prove the fewer guns that fall into citizens’ hands, the less gun violence there is in a country. That these incidents continue to occur is unacceptable.

Right narrative

The Left’s anti-gun agenda won’t do anything to quell the violence, it’ll only infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. Tragedies like what happened in Raleigh are ripe for exploitation by those who want to take away Americans’ guns, but those same people ignore all the other types of crime and violence hurting the country.

Cynical narrative

Thursday's tragic mass shooting in Raleigh has become another violent Thursday night in America. Senseless shootings like these almost render media coverage useless because they happen so much now. While there's political leadership in North Carolina who will care, we all know nothing is really changing in society. One by one, these desensitizing incidents are slowly robbing us of our outrage, and that's a shame.

Nerd narrative

There's a 1% chance that the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution will be amended or repealed before 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.