ISA.

State of Play.

A live analytical briefing on ideological competition — derived from 68 scored events across 5 macro-ideological traditions.

Current Assessment

Populist Nationalism holds the largest cumulative gain (+42.9 pts), while National Security Conservatism has absorbed the most ground (-1 pts). 49% of events are directly competitive — the rest are consolidation or unilateral moves. The dominant arena is Government/Law (59%), and the weapon of choice is Legal Authority (34%) — coercion is outpacing persuasion.

01

Who's Gaining Ground

Every event is scored for ideological impact — points transfer between sub-ideologies based on who advances and who retreats. This chart shows the running total. Lines above zero are gaining; lines below are losing. To keep it legible, only the biggest movers are plotted.

-200204007/2110/1012/1204/0304/1405/0806/0206/23
Populist Nationalism+42.9
American Conservatism+25.1
Shia-22.1
American Progressivism-21.7
European Populist Nationalism+6
Western Marxism+6
Identity & Social Justice Progressivism-4.9
European Progressivism+4

All Time

Net Gainers

Populist Nationalism+42.9
American Conservatism+25.1
European Populist Nationalism+6

Net Losers

National Security Conservatism-1
Sikhism-1
Socialism with Chinese Characteristics-1.9

Last 60 Days

Net movement from events scored in the past two months — who is gaining ground right now.

Recent Gainers

American Conservatism+7
European Populist Nationalism+6
Western Marxism+6

Recent Losers

American Progressivism-10
European Progressivism-5
Technocratic Transhumanism-5
02

Where the War Is Being Fought

59% of ideological competition concentrates in a single domain: Government/Law. Despite media emphasis on culture wars, the real front line is institutional — courtrooms, legislatures, and regulatory bodies.

By Domain

Government/Law59%
Culture16%
Global Projection12%
Religion10%
Media/Entertainment1%
Civic Institutions1%

Tempo — Events Per Month

4
11/25
7
12/25
2
01/26
2
02/26
1
03/26
23
04/26
7
05/26
4
06/26

Activity has cooled from the prior month.

03

How Power Is Being Deployed

Actors are reaching for hard power (40%) over soft power (29%). The preferred instrument is Legal Authority — meaning the competition is being decided by institutional authority, not public persuasion.

40%

Hard Power

29%

Soft Power

9%

Hybrid Power

Specific Instruments

Legal Authority34%
Narrative Norm Setting26%
Resource Control6%
Organizational Capacity3%
Networking Status3%
Thought Leadership1%
Litigation Legal Pressure1%
Gatekeeping1%
Messaging Reach1%
04

Latest Events in the Pipeline

The most recently scored events — each one analyzed for ideology alignment, power deployment, principle collisions, and base pressure.

Palace Redefines King's Role From "Defender of the Faith" to Protector of the Multi-Faith Nation

2026-06-26·ReligionSoft

Mamdani-Backed Socialists Sweep NYC Democratic Primaries

2026-06-23·Government/LawHybridCompetitive

Trump Signs Preliminary U.S.-Iran War-Termination Framework

2026-06-19·Global ProjectionHardCompetitive

Public backlash erupts over Henry Nowak bodycam release

2026-06-02·CultureSoft

Pope Leo XIV issues AI encyclical warning against concentrated technological power

2026-05-25·ReligionSoftCompetitive

Kevin Warsh sworn in as 17th Federal Reserve chair

2026-05-22·Government/LawHard
05

Principle Fault Lines

Most events pit constitutional and ideological principles against each other. We flag every principle in play and score whether the move advances it or cuts against it — the fault lines beneath the headline.

Positions Taken on Principle

56% advance a principle44% cut against one
101distinct principles in tension
139principle positions scored across 18 events
06

What's Driving the Moves

Every move is tagged with the motive behind it — conviction, self-preservation, grievance, opportunism. This is what is actually pushing the board, underneath the stated reasons.

Ideological conviction49
Opportunistic expansion23
Reputation22
Territory defense19
Resource incentive13
Threat response7
Felt grievance4
Self-preservation3
Internal shift3
Mandate execution3
Internal capture2
07

Where the Overton Window Is Moving

We track every attempt to shift the boundary of acceptable politics. Most are one-offs, but some directions get pushed again and again — these are the positions being normalized, drawn from 153 tracked pushes.

Escalate×9
Expand×9
Sphere Dominance×7
Accept Autocracy×6
Sovereigntist×5
Supranational×5
Restrain×4
Expand Force×4
Open Expand×4
Cosmopolitan Civic×4
08

How High the Stakes Run

Not every move matters equally. Each scored event is rated for impact, from micro skirmishes to very high-stakes shifts. Most of the contest is fought in small increments — the rare high-impact events are where the board really moves.

12
Micro
35
Low
11
Medium
6
High
4
Very high
09

Who Moves the Board

Some people show up and the contest breaks their way; others appear constantly and move nothing. We track every scored confrontation each actor is part of and measure how far their side advances or retreats.

Clutch is the average points their side moves per appearance. Positive means the contest tends to break their way when they are involved; negative means it tends to break against them.

Efficiency is ground gained per appearance, counting only the wins. It rewards actors who consistently advance their side. Only actors in at least 3 scored confrontations are ranked.

ActorAppsNetClutchEfficiencyWin %
Pete Hegseth5+27.5+5.55.5100%
Benjamin Netanyahu3+8+2.672.6733%
J.D. Vance4+7.7+1.931.93100%
Donald Trump31+45+1.451.4589%
Pope Leo XIV8+11+1.381.3886%
Todd Blanche30000%
John Thune30000%
Abigail Spanberger30000%
Nicolás Maduro5-14-2.8040%

Ranked by clutch score across scored confrontations.

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