This thought-provoking issue of Journal of Global Faultlines (Volume 13, Issue 1) begins with Bulent Gökay and Lily Hamourtziadou’s editorial “The war on Iran, the petrodollar, and US hegemony”, which considers whether US intervention in Iran marks the end of the ‘American Century’ and the beginning of a prolonged decline in US hegemony.

The issue continues to explore these existential themes through Timothy Mellish’s article “Neo-imperial coercion or strategic miscalculation? Trump’s interventions in Venezuela and Iran and the geopolitical ascendancy of China”. The article examines the military intervention in Venezuela in January 2026 and the war against Iran as interconnected expressions of a coherent, foreign policy doctrine aimed at containing Chinese power.

In “To what extent did Syria’s domestic legal framework on torture under the Assad regime comply with its obligations under international law, and how did the structure of its legal and political system contribute to widespread systemic torture and impunity?” Yousra Jenkal analyses human rights violations in Syria under the Assad regime.  David Lewis, Katie Oxley, and Jonathan Jackson contend that those who engage in corrupt practices become an essential and destructive weapon in the enemy’s arsenal in “The weaponization of corruption: Critical examination of challenging corrupt judicial practices in a Ukrainian context”. In “Pacific history and geopolitics: Indonesia’s secret intelligence report on Libya and the Separatist Movement 1987” Marlon S.C. Kansil, Yon Machmudi, and Agus Setiawan argue that Libya is leveraging oil-based non-traditional diplomacy and anti-imperialist ideology to expand its influence through symbolism, legitimacy, and networks of solidarity. Alexander John Poulton asks “How, and with what implications, did the use of Wagner PMC become one of the chief tools at Russia’s disposal?”. In a special section Narzas Abuhagar focuses on NATO Air Operations under International Humanitarian Law. Cham and Kumar explore humanitarian intervention within the context of the UN Charter, while Ramshah Hussain argues that International Humanitarian Law principles need to be revised due to the shift to urban warfare. Author Azraf Ishaq Chowdhury review article “Social justice and morality in Batman and American society”, examines Matt Reeves’ superhero film The Batman through the lens of social justice and morality, and analyses its depiction of systemic issues such as corruption, class divide and power dynamics.

Finally, in “Techno-Elite Diplomacy: The shift of global sovereignty from states to boardrooms”, Mohammed Saaida argues that a radical metamorphosis is taking place. He maintains that global sovereignty, as privatised through corporate decision-making, establishes a “Diplomatic Singularity” in which the velocity and secrecy of corporate decision-making essentially eviscerate the ability of states to hold themselves accountable and control their territories.