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This paper aims to examine the intensifying efforts by China and the West to harness the clean, limitless energy of nuclear fusion. However, it argues that this “holy grail” of a fusion future is only achievable through an optimal combination of mission-oriented public–private cooperation and genuine intergovernmental cooperation.

This study deploys a case-study approach, augmented by relevant literature, to analyse the advances in fusion technology.

Despite purported recent advances in fusion technology, these advances remain largely “proof of concept” experiments rather than commercially viable technologies that enable us to truly harness the infinite power of these “artificial suns”. To achieve the moonshot goal of delivering practicable “net energy gain” from fusion power, this study advocates shedding hubristic political “one-upmanship” amongst rival governments. Further, it urges focussing the ingenuity, along with the financial and scientific resources of all stakeholders (both public and private) across the globe to bring about this “fusion dawn”. Moreover, efforts to deliver fusion power face significant competition from other clean energy sources (wind, solar power and nuclear fission reactors) that are not only technically far less challenging but also economically more viable with their declining cost structures.

This study is possibly one of the few social science papers that examines the prospect of clean, limitless fusion power along with the challenges it faces and its societal implications.

This paper analyses the escalating Sino-Western race to develop a safe, efficacious and durable vaccine (i.e. “Goldilocks COVID-19 vaccine”). It argues that such efforts would be considerably more effective if there is greater international cooperation instead of the corrosive rivalry driven by misplaced nationalism.

This study deploys a case-study approach, supported by literature on existing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine development efforts.

Despite the seeming success of recent COVID-19 vaccines, their actual efficacy is far from certain. Moreover, access to these vaccines would not be equitable internationally. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that their unique properties make storage and distribution prohibitively expensive, and international mechanisms to provide distribution to economically depressed regions are non-existent. Given the significant difficulties, it would be incumbent upon the great powers (i.e. China and America) to work together not only in vaccine development but also in the establishment of a distribution platform to ensure equitable access worldwide.

This study is one of the few social science research papers on COVID-19 vaccine development and its implications for society at large.

This paper establishes the “Rules of Engagement” (i.e. being “Long-Term Greedy”, adopting a “Caesar's Wife Approach” and promoting “Inclusive Growth”), which aim to strengthen the chances of success of “Belt and Road Initiative” (“BRI”) projects.

This study deploys a case-study approach, supported by research on the economic and political development of developing countries.

Despite the professed altruism of BRI projects, many of these projects have been bedevilled by corruption scandals, financial overruns and spurious accusations of them being used as politically driven “debt-traps”. These problems present an urgent need for an overarching overseer to implement the “rules of engagement” needed to enhance the prospect of long-term success in BRI projects.

This study is one of the few academic research papers on the BRI.

This paper examines the methodical and highly efficacious manner in which China deployed its comprehensive AI (artificial intelligence) strategy to significantly stymie the spread of COVID-19 across the country.

This study deploys a case-study approach, supported by the literature on existing and emerging AI and related technologies.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed to the world the remarkable progress China has made in AI and its accompanying ecosystem. More importantly, this outlier event demonstrates the surgical, hybridised manner in which China has utilised these emerging technologies in containing its spread (i.e. “AI Epidemiological Targeting”) and set itself on the path to unleashing their full potential (i.e. “AI Symbiosis Paradigm”). Nonetheless, China still needs to harness its rapidly advancing AI prowess in identifying COVID-19's pathogenesis and developing a proven vaccine.

This study presents a pioneering effort to analyse the deployment of AI and its ecosystem in the “war” against COVID-19.