The Tabularium
Rome's tabularium was the state records office; this is ours. Every Watch Ahead call the brief has issued, graded against criteria fixed at publication — misses shown as plainly as hits, each scored on its opening call even as we keep it current.
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The Ledger
| № | The call | Mission / Location | Issued | Due ▾ | Confidence | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Colombia's next UNODC coca-cultivation estimate (expected in 2027, covering the 2026 growing season) will not show a meaningful year-over-year decline despite President-elect de la Espriella's aerial-eradication push. | Transnational Organized CrimeSouth America & CaribbeanColombia | No. 9 · 9 Jul 26 | 31 Jul 27 | Likely 70% | Open |
| 33 | China will still be conducting its established coast-guard patrol presence east of Taiwan twelve months from now, without having formally suspended or withdrawn the pattern. | National SecurityAsia / PacificTaiwanChina | No. 8 · 8 Jul 26 | 8 Jul 27 | Very likely 85% | Open |
| 32 | The EU's ETIAS travel-authorization system will not launch, even in a limited or phased form, before April 1, 2027 — a further slip beyond the newly announced first-quarter-2027 target. | PartnershipsEuropeEuropean Union | No. 8 · 8 Jul 26 | 1 Apr 27 | Likely 65% | Open |
| 31 | If el-Obeid's last open route closes, a UN-confirmed displacement count of at least 100,000 people tied to the el-Obeid offensive will be recorded within six months. | Illegal ImmigrationAfrica / Middle EastSudanChadEgypt | No. 7 · 7 Jul 26 | 7 Jan 27 | Likely 60% | Open |
| 30 | China maintains a recurring, rotating coast-guard patrol presence east of Taiwan (a replacement vessel on station within any 30-day gap) through early January 2027. | National SecurityAsia / PacificTaiwanChina | No. 5 · 5 Jul 26 | 5 Jan 27 | Very likely 85% | Open |
| 29 | Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal levels by December 31, 2026. | Illicit Trade / Econ SecurityAfrica / Middle EastIranYemen | No. 6 · 6 Jul 26 | 31 Dec 26 | Likely 55%70% → 55% 9 Jul 26us 55% · Polymarket 72% → 62% | Open |
| 28 | China will not issue any official government endorsement (a foreign ministry statement or an official map revision) of the Batanes sovereignty claim within 90 days. | National SecurityCentral AmericaChinaPhilippinesTaiwan | No. 9 · 9 Jul 26 | 7 Oct 26 | Likely 75% | Open |
| 27 | Neither Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar nor Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar will be captured, killed, or surrendered to authorities within 90 days. | Transnational Organized CrimeNorth AmericaMexicoUnited States | No. 8 · 8 Jul 26 | 6 Oct 26 | Likely 55% | Open |
| 26 | The EU will not conclude a finalized return-hub agreement with Rwanda or Uzbekistan before 30 September 2026; talks slip, as prior EU/UK third-country schemes have. | Illegal ImmigrationEuropeEuropean UnionRwandaUzbekistan | No. 3 · 3 Jul 26 | 30 Sep 26 | Likely 60% | Open |
| 25 | China's monthly detentions of Panama-flagged vessels will not climb back above 100 in either of the next two reported months (through August 2026), extending June's de-escalation from May's peak of 140. | National SecurityCentral AmericaChinaPanamaUnited States | No. 9 · 9 Jul 26 | 7 Sep 26 | Likely 55% | Open |
| 24 | Thailand will not issue a formal cabinet decision or decree rescheduling cannabis back to controlled-narcotic status within two months. | Illicit Trade / Econ SecurityAsia / PacificThailand | No. 7 · 7 Jul 26 | 7 Sep 26 | Likely 55% | Open |
| 23 | None of the four active-duty Italian military personnel under investigation in the Rome espionage case will be formally charged within 60 days — the case will still be described as an active investigation, not a completed prosecution. | National SecurityEuropeItalyRussia | No. 8 · 8 Jul 26 | 6 Sep 26 | Likely 68% | Open |
| 22 | The European Commission grants a formal suspension or airport-by-airport flexibility of EES biometric checks before September 1, 2026. | PartnershipsEuropeEuropean Union | No. 5 · 5 Jul 26 | 1 Sep 26 | Roughly even 45% | Open |
| 21 | De la Espriella (inaugurated 7 Aug) will begin his pledged 90-day military crackdown on armed groups within his first two weeks in office (by 21 Aug). | Transnational Organized CrimeSouth America & CaribbeanColombia | No. 2 · 2 Jul 26 | 21 Aug 26 | Likely 65% | Open |
| 20 | Peru's Fujimori government (inaugurated 28 July) will publicly signal continuity or warming of U.S. security cooperation by 15 August. | PartnershipsSouth America & CaribbeanPeru | No. 2 · 2 Jul 26 | 15 Aug 26 | Likely 60% | Open |
| 19 | De la Espriella will be inaugurated 7 August as scheduled, and Cepeda's threatened 'civil disobedience' will not materially disrupt the transfer of power. | PartnershipsSouth America & CaribbeanColombia | No. 3 · 3 Jul 26 | 10 Aug 26 | Likely 70% | Open |
| 18 | Iran will not resume even Oman-mediated contact with Washington within 30 days of Supreme Leader Khamenei's funeral period ending. | National SecurityAfrica / Middle EastIranUnited StatesOman | No. 9 · 9 Jul 26 | 8 Aug 26 | Likely 65% | Open |
| 17 | Iran will not carry out a follow-on strike specifically targeting a vessel using the Omani bypass route around the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days. | National SecurityAfrica / Middle EastIranOman | No. 7 · 7 Jul 26 | 6 Aug 26 | Very unlikely 10%60% → 10% 8 Jul 26 | Open |
| 16 | The Sheinbaum-FBI dispute over the 2024 Zambada extraction will not produce a formal downgrade in U.S.-Mexico security or intelligence-sharing cooperation (e.g. a public suspension of a joint operation or a recalled liaison officer) within 30 days. | PartnershipsNorth AmericaMexicoUnited States | No. 7 · 7 Jul 26 | 6 Aug 26 | Likely 78%72% → 78% 8 Jul 26 | Open |
| 15 | At least one additional EU member state beyond Italy, Portugal, and Greece formally invokes the EES biometric-suspension flexibility clause at its own border crossings within 30 days. | PartnershipsEuropeEuropean UnionItalyPortugalGreece | No. 6 · 6 Jul 26 | 5 Aug 26 | Likely 60% | Open |
| 14 | RSF forces close el-Obeid's last open route (the eastern corridor) within 30 days. | Illegal ImmigrationAfrica / Middle EastSudan | No. 6 · 6 Jul 26 | 5 Aug 26 | Likely 65%50% → 65% 7 Jul 26 | Open |
| 13 | China conducts a third rotation of its coast-guard patrol group east of Taiwan (a vessel swap similar to the June-July handover) within 30 days. | National SecurityAsia / PacificTaiwanChina | No. 6 · 6 Jul 26 | 5 Aug 26 | Likely 68% | Open |
| 12 | The IACHR will proceed with its 4 August hearing on Porras-era political-persecution claims as scheduled (not postponed or cancelled). | PartnershipsCentral AmericaGuatemala | No. 3 · 3 Jul 26 | 5 Aug 26 | Likely 75% | Open |
| 11 | The Saudi-led coalition does not carry out a strike on any of its named Yemeni targets (Hodeidah port, Ras Isa oil terminal, as-Salif port, Sanaa International Airport) within 30 days. | National SecurityAfrica / Middle EastSaudi ArabiaYemen | No. 5 · 5 Jul 26 | 4 Aug 26 | Very likely 82% | Open |
| 10 | A further coordinated, multi-town attack (three or more towns in a single operation) attributed to the FLA/JNIM insurgency occurs in Mali within 30 days. | National SecurityAfrica / Middle EastMali | No. 5 · 5 Jul 26 | 4 Aug 26 | Likely 65% | Open |
| 9 | The U.S.–Iran ceasefire will hold and Strait of Hormuz commercial shipping volumes will keep recovering (no renewed closure or major disruption) through 31 July. | National SecurityAfrica / Middle EastIranUnited States | No. 2 · 2 Jul 26 | 31 Jul 26 | Very unlikely 10%65% → 40% → 10% 8 Jul 26 | Open |
| 8 | No actual PRC boarding of, or armed standoff with, a commercial vessel in the Taiwan Strait will occur by 31 July; gray-zone pressure stays below the kinetic threshold. | National SecurityCentral AmericaChinaTaiwan | No. 1 · 1 Jul 26 | 31 Jul 26 | Very likely 80% | Open |
| 7 | Venezuela's June-24 earthquake casualty/missing figures will be revised further upward and early cross-border displacement indicators will appear by 31 July. | Illegal ImmigrationSouth America & CaribbeanVenezuela | No. 1 · 1 Jul 26 | 31 Jul 26 | Likely 70% | Open |
| 6 | Keiko Fujimori's July 28 inauguration will proceed on schedule, with counter-narcotics and border cooperation continuing uninterrupted through the transition. | PartnershipsSouth America & CaribbeanPeru | No. 4 · 4 Jul 26 | 29 Jul 26 | Very likely 85%75% → 85% 8 Jul 26 | Open |
| 5 | The 20 July U.S.–Mexico USMCA round will conclude without a finalized rules-of-origin agreement; talks continue into a further round. | Illicit Trade / Econ SecurityNorth AmericaUnited StatesMexico | No. 2 · 2 Jul 26 | 27 Jul 26 | Likely 75%reaffirmed 3 Jul 26 | Open |
| 4 | Canada will not have rejoined the USMCA talks as a full tripartite party by 27 July, and any rules-of-origin movement signaled will be toward tighter content thresholds rather than looser ones. | Illicit Trade / Econ SecurityNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexico | No. 1 · 1 Jul 26 | 27 Jul 26 | Likely 70%65% → 70% 8 Jul 26 | Open |
| 3 | The RSF's el-Obeid offensive will intensify over the next one to two weeks, and a mass-casualty assault on the scale of El Fasher would trigger a fresh cross-border displacement wave toward Chad and Egypt. | Illegal ImmigrationAfrica / Middle EastSudan | No. 4 · 4 Jul 26 | 25 Jul 26 | Likely 70% | Open |
| 2 | Paused U.S.-Iran Doha talks on the Strait of Hormuz will resume shortly after the funeral concludes, with the toll/fee dispute still unresolved. | Illicit Trade / Econ SecurityAfrica / Middle EastIranOman | No. 4 · 4 Jul 26 | 20 Jul 26 | Likely 60% | Open |
| 1 | Houthi threats against Saudi airports and shipping will stay rhetorical through the close of Khamenei's funeral period (around July 9), with no actual strike on Saudi soil or vessels in that window. | National SecurityAfrica / Middle EastIranSaudi ArabiaYemen | No. 4 · 4 Jul 26 | 10 Jul 26 | Likely 65% | Open |
How the account is kept
Criteria are fixed at publication. Every Watch Ahead call states its expectation, its window, and the counter-signal that would overturn it, in the edition where it appears. Those words are the resolution criteria; they are never revised.
The counter-signal is the trigger. If it fires within the window, the call is a Miss. If the expectation holds, Hit. Where the evidence cannot fairly decide, the verdict is Non liquet — the finding Roman jurors returned when a case could not be resolved — and it is excluded from the record.
Scoring. A hit counts one, a miss zero; non liquet is excluded from the denominator. No call is ever removed, renumbered, or regraded.
Confidence is logged with every call — in the brief's fixed confidence language (almost certain, very likely, likely, roughly even, unlikely…), set when the call is made. It is shown so the record can demonstrate skill, not a padded win rate: a wall of “almost certain” hits shows nothing, while called “roughly even” outcomes that land are where judgment shows. As calls resolve this is made explicit: the calibration table above reports, for each confidence word, how often those calls actually came true versus what the word claims; past roughly thirty resolved calls, a Brier score over the logged probabilities reduces it to a single number. Those readings feed back into how later calls are written.
Against the market. Where a call lines up with a liquid prediction market, its implied odds at the time of the call are shown beneath the confidence and tracked live (“at call → now”), and the record is scored against the market's too — a check on beating the crowd. It is a secondary lens: most calls have no aligned market, and one is never forced.

