Volume 119

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the global economy, security, and governance, with the United States and China holding dominant positions. Their rivalry reflects the conflict between market logic, emphasizing efficiency and innovation, and security logic, prioritizing risk management and strategic control. Both powers exercise strong normative influence in multilateral platforms, yet domestic incorporation of norms remains limited. Market rationality accelerates diffusion of technologies such as Large Language Models but aggravates risks of inequality, whereas security rationality mitigates threats but constrains cooperation. Divergences appear in domains including quantum AI, data governance, and military–civil fusion, where strategic confrontation delays regulatory adaptation. Balanced and inclusive frameworks are required for effective global governance, as highlighted by initiatives such as the Bletchley Declaration, with institutions like the United Nations serving a bridging role. Progress depends on cultivating reciprocal trust, avoiding zero-sum dynamics, and achieving mutually beneficial outcomes in AI governance. The persistence of these tensions illustrates the structural challenges inherent in aligning technological development with coherent global regulatory mechanisms.

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This paper investigates how the Swedish public views carbon taxation and the social factors that shape support or resistance. It compares a nationally representative sample with a group of fuel tax protesters to explore differences in demographics, political orientation, and levels of trust in government. To capture broader trends in public acceptance, a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is used to examine changes in willingness to pay environmental taxes in Sweden and a set of comparison countries between 2000 and 2010. The results show that, although opposition to environmental taxes increased globally during this period, the rise in Sweden was notably smaller. This suggests that Sweden’s early and transparent “green tax reform” and revenue recycling measures helped sustain public support. The study shows the importance of trust, fairness, and transparency in designing carbon tax policies that are both politically feasible and socially acceptable over time.

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As a kind of complex object with property attribute and financial attribute, virtual currency has caused theoretical and practical controversies about its criminal law classification since its birth. In judicial practice, because of the vague boundary between property crime and financial crime, the criminal case of virtual currency always manifests a state of “malnutrition”: denying its property attribute, resulting in the attenuate protective function of criminal law; generalize its financial attribute, resulting in the criminal law overregulation. This paper insists on establishing a dual regulation model based on property attribute and financial attribute. In the field of property crime, virtual currency’s property value should be acknowledged and regulated according to the traditional property crime such as theft, fraud, and embezzlement. In the field of financial crime, the criminal law should only focus on the behaviors of illegal fund raising and money laundering, considering the anonymity, decentralization and cross-border circulation of virtual currency. More importantly, the criminal law evaluations should follow the principle of “substance over form” to find out the real function of virtual currency in the criminal behavior, thereby protecting property rights, maintaining financial order and promoting the systemic regulation and substantive regulation of virtual currency crime.

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Adolescent nowadays grow up in an environment with constant access to internet. This rapid exposure to digital platforms within the early years has raised concerns regards to its influence on cognitive memory. This article focuses on the phenomenon that frequent interaction with digital stimuli may disrupt working memory and impair attentional control. Using the multi-store model of memory, it links psychological processes such as fear of missing out, sleep disturbances, and social recognition loops to working memory disruptions. The addictive nature of social media further exacerbates the fragmentation of basic cognitive load and attention control ability. Neuroplastic changes have also been used to provide a physiological explanation for the remodeling of retrievable memories. The exposure to digital content in a fragmented manner of swiftly changing form has shown results in altering brain structure. The “Google Effect” further suggests that relying on digital information can cause the brain to become reliant on digital memory sources. Retrieval information through spatial means rather than a fixed basis lessens the attentiveness and effort used to process the sensory memory translations so that less sensory inputs find their way to long-term memory storage. Ultimately, this study highlights the multifaceted impact of social media on adolescent memory retrieval and calls for mindful technology use and further interdisciplinary research.

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This paper examines the structural conflicts between the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and global climate governance objectives, particularly in light of the Paris Agreement. It argues that the ECT’s strong investor protection provisions—such as Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET), protection against indirect expropriation, and the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism—create a “regulatory chill” that discourages states from adopting ambitious climate policies. Through a qualitative case study of Rockhopper v. Italy, this work demonstrates how the ECT undermines national climate legislation and limits the regulatory space of host states. The analysis reveals that the treaty’s pro-investor bias prioritizes fossil fuel interests over environmental goals, thereby hindering the alignment of international investment law with climate action. In response, this paper proposes several reforms, including coordinated withdrawal from the ECT, the incorporation of climate exception clauses in bilateral investment treaties, and enhanced interpretative cooperation among contracting parties. These recommendations aim to reconcile investment protection with climate obligations, ensuring that international investment law supports rather than obstructs the global transition to a low-carbon economy.

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Research on the identification of obscene materials in China focuses on the current state of legislation, judicial practice, and potential improvements. At the legislative level, China's definition of obscene materials is governed by multiple regulatory frameworks, including criminal law, administrative regulations, and departmental rules. Criminal law establishes the core criterion of "obscenity" , while administrative regulations and departmental rules provide detailed behavioral norms and appraisal procedures, balancing the suppression of criminal activity with the protection of cultural rights.In judicial practice, however, challenges arise due to the abstract nature of key criteria such as "obscenity" and "explicit depiction of sexual conduct," leading to blurred boundaries in identification. The author analyzes the legal interests infringed upon by obscene materials and draws on the experiences of the UK, the US, and Canada, where the protection of public morality is central. These jurisdictions have developed objective assessment systems—such as the community standards and the triple standard—to determine obscenity, offering valuable insights for China’s legal framework.The conclusion suggests that China’s legislation should clearly define the core characteristic of "obscenity," while the judiciary should establish a dual-review mechanism combining professional appraisal with societal consensus. The assessment should be based on social harm, striking a balance between public decency and cultural prosperity.

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In the context of the increasingly multipolar global order, the role of international organizations in the competition among major powers is increasingly complex and critical. From the perspective of institutional power, this paper discusses the operational logic of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) under the background of Sino US strategic competition. Through literature analysis and case studies, this paper systematically combs the different understandings of rationalism and Constructivism on the behavior of international organizations, and compares and analyzes how two important international organizations maintain their authority and legitimacy under geopolitical tensions. The study found that although international organizations are subject to the interests of major powers, their institutional design and normative power can still affect the behavior of Member States to a certain extent. This paper argues that enhancing procedural transparency and institutional adaptability is the key to maintaining effective governance of international organizations in the future. This study will help deepen the understanding of how international organizations play a role in the volatile global political situation, and provide enlightenment for Multilateral Governance Reform.

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Childhood psychological trauma casts a long shadow over lifelong mental health and strongly predisposes individuals to depressive disorders. Despite consensus on the childhood trauma-depression connection, the translational mechanisms operating between them are not yet fully understood. Drawing on learned helplessness theory, this investigation advances the view that hopelessness acts as a core mechanism in the relationship between early trauma and later depression. This research seeks to elucidate the mechanisms through which different childhood traumas influence adult depression, with a specific focus on interrogating the mediating effect of hopelessness. A questionnaire survey was administered to 113 adults (38 males, 74 females) with an average age of 22. The study found that all types of childhood trauma except sexual abuse (emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect) significantly influenced depression levels through the full mediating effect of hopelessness. However, there was no significant association between sexual abuse and hopelessness, thus hopelessness could not mediate this relationship. The results support learned helplessness theory, showing that prolonged uncontrollable trauma fosters hopelessness and subsequent depression. While emotional and physical abuse harm mental health by damaging future expectations and causing hopelessness, future intervention for trauma victim can focus on intervening against the sense of hopelessness to prevent depression. This study also underscores the need to distinguish trauma types and their specific mechanisms for understanding and intervening in childhood trauma’s long-term effects.

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As the global sexual minorities' rights movement makes great progress, the protection of sexual minorities' right to equal employment has attracted much attention. However, various cases and data demonstrate that this group still faces widespread discrimination in employment. There are problems such as vague legal definitions and the difficulty of identifying hidden discrimination in China's anti-discrimination judicial practice. In contrast, the judicial review model emphasizing substantive equality demonstrated in the Bostock case in the United States provides China with ideas for improvement. Research has found that the provisions on equal employment rights in China are overly general in principle, which may lead to difficulties in evidential burden and judicial review avoidance. Based on this, a comprehensive safeguard system should be established at the legislative, enforcement, and social consciousness to effectively protect the equal employment rights of sexual minority employees and to realize the commitment of equality before the law.

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The education of students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has received widespread attention in recent years, but existing intervention models still have deficiencies, mainly relying on medication and lacking systematic educational support. This article takes art education as a starting point to analyze its unique role and potential value in the ADHD population. It is found that art education can play a positive role in three aspects: First, structured art activities, such as painting, can help ADHD students maintain attention and reduce classroom interference. Second, the combination of mindfulness concepts and art can provide new paths for emotional regulation and impulse control. Third, gamification and group creation show significant advantages in promoting social skills, enhancing belongingness, and self-efficacy. Based on this, the following suggestions are proposed: in the future, empirical research on art education in ADHD intervention should be strengthened to explore the long-term effects of different forms of art activities; in educational practice, the combination of art education with diverse non-pharmacological interventions such as sports, music, and psychological counseling should be promoted; at the same time, teacher training and curriculum design should be improved.

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