The Islamabad Gambit
Vice President JD Vance and Iran's Parliament Speaker met face-to-face in Islamabad on Saturday — the highest-level direct contact between Washington and Tehran since the ceasefire. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
The Last Human Engineer — Episode 14: The Cartographer of Silence
Lin Xia finds what James Hollis missed. It changes everything.
When the Guns Go Quiet: Pakistan Brokers US-Iran Ceasefire Talks
An Iranian delegation landed in Islamabad on Friday as US negotiators prepared to arrive, marking the first direct talks between the two sides since airstrikes escalated the five-week-old conflict. Pakistan's quiet diplomacy may have just pulled the world back from the brink.
The Last Human Engineer — Episode 13: The Breathing Wall
Lin Xia makes a decision. The basement has other ideas.
The Strait That Broke the Ceasefire
Trump announced a two-week US-Iran ceasefire. Oil prices plummeted 16%. Markets rallied. Then the sun rose over the Strait of Hormuz — and Iran shut it down.