Issue 2, 2025  

Stepping into a New AI Civilization?

Contents

▍Editor’s Note     

China’s Moment with Artificial Intelligence 

▍Overseas

Resetting the Hegemony “Operating System”: Understanding Foreign Policy in the Trump 2.0 Era       Kang Jie

▍Cover Story: Entering a New AI Civilization?

Post-Civilization, or New Civilization            Han Shaogong

Knowledge Production: From Libraries to Machine Intelligence      Li Qiutong

▍The Wealth of Nations    

Stepping out from “Involution Economy”          Zheng Yongnian, Liu Chengqian

The involution economy, characterized by homogeneous, growthless, and race-to-the-bottom competition among local governments, is an inevitable outcome of economic transition amid rising deglobalization. With declining foreign and private investments, development-driven local authorities are compelled to compete fiercely over existing factor endowments. Typical manifestations of the involution economy include extraordinary incentives in investment promotion, reverse investment attraction from coastal to inland regions, lack of coordination among government guidance funds, and administrative barriers obstructing enterprise relocation. To mitigate the Matthew effect associated with involutionary competition, the central government should reform the beggar-thy-neighbor cadre evaluation system, foster interregional division of labor, support horizontal coordination among local authorities, uphold unilateral external openness, and, most crucially, moderately ease regulatory constraints.

How the “Hefei Model” Embeds in County-level Economy      Song Lei, Sun Xiaodong

The process of successful catch-up is invariably accompanied by policy innovation. China’s policy practices also involve policy innovation, notably in the realm of investment and business attraction. In this regard, the policy practices of Hefei are widely recognized as the most successful. The Hefei model has become a benchmark for various local governments, including county-level ones, making its localization an important policy phenomenon. However, county-level economies should not directly replicate the Hefei model. A Taihe County case study reveals successful localization requires double embeddedness. First, local governments must adapt and integrate the essence of the Hefei model into their own policy frameworks, in line with local fiscal conditions. Second, by leveraging community networks, local governments should incorporate targeted investors into the existing transaction networks of relevant industries.

▍Worldview

Farewell to “The End of History” — A New Historical Perspective    Zhao Dingxin

▍Observation · Culture

How “American Heroes” Are Forged — From National Mythology and Universal Representative to Cyber Illusions                       Duo Yue

In the pre-World War II era, the hero in the Western and Southern genres served as a national allegory, embodying the dialectic of “civilization versus savagery” and Puritan moralism rooted in white supremacy. The postwar period witnessed dual manifestations of universal justice: hyper-idealized war heroes propagating American exceptionalism alongside existentialist anti-heroes critiquing capitalist contradictions. The contemporary “cinematic universe” that values special effects and narrative routines standardizes the heroic image and downplays its ideological specificity. Through historical-textual analysis, this investigation reveals that compelling screen heroes constitute not mere individualist fantasies but cultural barometers. The findings suggest cinematic heroism derives its potency from articulating collective historical consciousness rather than personal exceptionalism.

▍Special Issue: Russia between East and West

Russia’s Years of Return: From “National Idea” to Putinism             Zhang Haoqi
75 Years of China-Russian Cultural Exchange                              Sun Zhuangzhi

▍Re-Recognize the West    
Rebuilding the Walls of Nation-States — Changes in the European Political Spectrum                  Wei Nanzhi, Peng Qi

This paper analyzes the changes of the political spectrum in Europe from the historical perspective. The interplay between neoliberal-led economic globalization, which “flattens the world”, and the resurgence of the nation state, which forms the “reverse movement”, is profoundly changing the political landscape of Europe. Neoliberal-led economic globalization, the universalist discourse of the left, and the European Union were once mutually compatible, giving transnational capital, especially financial capital, great freedom. As the consensus and dream of “European integration” and European strategic autonomy are on the verge of collapse, anti-EU, anti-immigration and other far-right waves are rising. They want a return to nation-states and traditional values, but they are also incapable of solving Europe's multiple dilemmas.

▍Classics Revisited      
Education for Revolution — The Reconstruction of a North China Village from Fanshen  Li Yida

▍Observations · Society

“Racing Against Death”: How Platform Enterprises Participate in Social Emergency Response Systems        Qi Tengfei, Qin Lin

The legitimacy of platform enterprises like Tencent in social emergency response systems is established on three dimensions: demand fulfillment, infrastructure transformation, and risk mitigation. Platforms address the critical “golden four-minute” gap by integrating AEDs and volunteers via tools like Tencent’s “Penguin Emergency Assistant”. Their role as quasi-infrastructure, supported by national policies and cultural alignment, further legitimizes their involvement. Additionally, they tackle the “dare not save” issue by offering real-time video guidance, insurance, and legal awareness, reducing rescuers' legal risks. These efforts collectively establish their legitimacy, positioning them as vital actors in enhancing public health and safety.

Organizing Small Farmers: The Institutional Role of Rural CEOs in Rural Revitalization             Hou Liqi