The Substack team knows very well what it has built: an ocean of gifted writers, a tavern for hungry minds, a tent where intellectuals gather to make sense of a fractured world.

We live, as many believe, in the shadow of Gramsci's famous observation: that the old world order is dead, the new not yet born, and in this interregnum, monsters roam.

In times like these, one needs the luck of good company. To be surrounded by intellectuals and luminaries who serve as lighthouses against the rough swells of brute force, power projection, and the endless emission of hubris.

The alternative is not merely getting lost — it is drowning in the vortex.

As the hegemon ages, we must understand how we arrived here. Every path forward requires first knowing where we came from.

That is why I am so pleased, so privileged, and so persuaded that I could not have found a better companion for this journey than Nel Bonilla .

To have joined forces with her on this two-part essay, prepared for you over the past two weeks, has been an honour.

I wish to thank Nel for her intellectual authenticity, her moral clarity, and her unflinching objectivity. In every answer, she shed light on questions I had not yet learned to ask.

And by the end of Part I — like many of you, I suspect — I found I could not have ventured into the past without such a confident companion.

We hope you enjoy this two-part essay. Stay tuned: Part II lands on Tuesday.

Finally, as the old African proverb reminds us: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

I could not have travelled this far without you, Nel. Thank you.