Every lever now answers. A pass over the things you pay for that quietly did nothing:

Research works. R&D above ~1% of GDP previously had no effect at all — 5.5% and 2.0% produced identical results. Spending now scales properly, and the screen states where your tech index settles, when it gets there, and what the next 1% of GDP buys.
Resource shortages are solvable. Some deficits were impossible by construction — LNG demanded more than twice the gas a country could physically produce, so no trade could ever close the gap. Every shortage the game shows is now coverable, each deficit names a way out, refusals explain what cost you the deal and offer a partial contract, and developing resources actually shrinks the gap. The shortage warning tracks your progress instead of repeating itself.
Institutions hold. Central bank independence, judicial independence, press freedom, digitalization, bureaucracy and polarization all drifted back on their own — sometimes erasing actions you paid political capital for. Sustained policy now holds a level, and each screen shows where it settles.
Soft power and tourism were falling with no way to fund them. Public diplomacy and cultural budgets now hold them up.
New: Living Standards — GDP per capita and household income with your world rank beside your key indicators, plus PER on the stock exchange.
Navigation consolidated — related screens grouped, nothing removed, every shortcut preserved, Ctrl/Cmd+K jumps anywhere.
All 13 languages, including the messages that appear after you click something.