Opposing Unilateralism: China’s Position and Commitment to Multilateralism

Wu Zhicheng & Zhang Junsu

Unilateralism has become a tool for some countries to strengthen control and assert international influence in the face of declining hegemony and weakening authority. It is closely connected to the political traditions of specific countries and the defining features of today’s international relations. The detrimental effects of unilateralist and protectionist policies by the US in the past two years have underscored the negative impact of unilateralism on global politics. China remains committed to providing stability and positive momentum to the global economy, and firmly opposes unilateralism and protectionism, demonstrating its responsibilities as a major country.

A Reshaped Middle East Order under the Donroe Doctrine

Tang Zhichao & Liang Zhiling

Trump’s return to office has profoundly reshaped the Middle Eastern order both structurally and normatively. His policies, built upon “America First” and characterized by unilateralism and the logic of raw power, have brought new rules that fuel political chaos and disorder in regional relations. However, the gains for the US are temporary and tactical. The de‑Americanization of the region is an inevitable trend, and regional countries will seek new balances and greater roles amid development and conflict, autonomy and dependence, as well as confrontation and cooperation.

Trump’s “Revolution of Common Sense”: Ideas, Actions, and Paradigm Clash

Liu Feitao

Trump’s “Revolution of Common Sense” has provided a political and philosophical rationale for policy‑making since the start of his second term, serving as an ideological thread running through his administrative, economic, and social reforms. At its core, it is a product of America’s concurrent social, class, cultural, and political representation crises, and represents a 21st‑century fusion of populism, nationalism, and conservatism. Despite its considerable mobilizational capacity and policy momentum in the short term, the movement is marked by profound internal tensions and structural contradictions.

From Order to Power: The Evolution of Trump’s Revisionist Foreign Policy

Wang Hao

The US revisionist foreign policy has evolved beyond dissatisfaction with the normative foundations of multilateral institutions since the beginning of Trump’s second term. The shift toward a more systematic challenge to the distribution of power is reflected in efforts to establish spheres of influence, exert maximum pressure on other states, employ coercive military instruments, and pursue territorial expansion. This transformation has undermined the stability of the international system and eroded American global leadership, but it remains constrained by international norms, the global distribution of power, and structural limitations of the US political system.

New Adjustments in US‑Russia Relations: Ideational Foundations, Driving Forces, and Practical Limits

Zhao Long

Since Trump’s return to presidency, US‑Russia relations have entered a new phase of limited recalibration. However, the scope of bilateral rapprochement remains limited due to the two sides’ enduring differences over security strategy, deeply entrenched adversarial threat perceptions, the absence of broad‑based mutual interests, and the implementation challenges arising from domestic political constraints and foreign policy commitments. The current adjustment is best understood as a form of issue‑specific transactional accommodation rather than comprehensive strategic reconciliation.

Beyond the Core–Periphery Paradigm: Restructuring the Global Artificial Intelligence Technology System

Lu Chuanying & Yang Liwei

Amid the historic transformation of artificial intelligence from a specialized technological tool into a form of general‑purpose infrastructure, China and the United States have emerged as the two principal engines of global AI development, shaping the worldwide diffusion of AI technologies and the architecture of AI governance through markedly different strategic approaches. This strategic divergence has implications for the global AI ecosystem across economic, political, and cultural dimensions, and moving the system away from a single‑center structure toward a more multipolar and networked configuration.