World

Sanctions are often described as a switch that turns trade off. The layered, leaky mechanics behind how they actually work, and who really bears the cost.

A small number of narrow passages carry an outsized share of global trade. Why geography, more than policy, still decides how goods move around the planet.

Peacekeeping missions rarely have the mandate the name implies. What consent, mandates, and robust rules of engagement actually let a mission do, and what they can't.