This article examines the phenomenon of the United States' involvement in operations aimed at eliminating foreign leaders, which has gained new resonance in connection with the high-profile events of 2025–2026—the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a result of an American-Israeli strike. Based on analysis of historical documents, expert assessments, and international-law norms, the evolution of the United States' approaches to the use of force for regime change is reconstructed. Special attention is paid to the contradiction between the official prohibition on political assassinations and the continuing practice of their use under new legal justifications.

New Year as a collective Cinderella story

E.T.A. Hoffmann and his Christmas tales

Winter tales