Editor's note

In 2005, President Bush used the word “victory” 15 times in a speech about the Iraq War. Things had changed in 2009, when President Obama sought to get rid of the idea of victory in US strategic discourse, arguing that it evokes crude associations with conquest. But the idea of “winning” wars has very much come to the fore again in Trump’s presidency.

Despite this uneven US rhetoric, it is undeniable that wars no longer produce clear-cut victories. Just look at the legacy of wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Libya. Many, Obama chief among them, argue that in such a context the language of victory is unsuitable, especially as historically, wars have seldom ended that way. But as Cian O'Driscoll argues, this overlooks the fact that the ideal of victory still very much guides how we think about war – and not only the Bushes and Trumps of the world. All of which indicates that it’s high time we had a real think about victory, war, and what it means today.

Forget microdosing and Huel – the latest craze in Silicon Valley is dopamine fasting – by abstaining from food, sex, drugs and social media. An expert debunks it. And find out exactly what’s happened to UK migration since the EU referendum with these four graphs.

Josephine Lethbridge

Interdisciplinary Editor

Top stories

A protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask flashing a victory sign in Beirut in November 2019. EPA-EFE/WAEL HAMZEH EPA-EFE/WAEL HAMZEH

Can wars no longer be won?

Cian O'Driscoll, University of Glasgow

Wars don't produce winners and losers – they never really did.

Methamphetamine abuse (right) decreases dopamine transporter activity in the brain. National Institute on Drug Abuse

Dopamine fasting: an expert reviews the latest craze in Silicon Valley

Ciara McCabe, University of Reading

There are more efficient ways to stop addictions than fasting from rewards.

Net migration has gone down since the referendum. 1000 words/Shutterstock

What’s happened to UK migration since the EU referendum – in four graphs

Nik Lomax, University of Leeds

There is substantial difference in what's happening to migration from inside and outside the EU.

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