Cyclicity of history refers to the idea that societies move in repeating cycles of progress and decline, where each period of growth is accompanied by a proportional weaknesses that prevents permanent upward change over time.

Historical progressivism refers to the belief that human ability compounds across generations, allowing societies to overcome past limits and achieve lasting improvements without a fixed ceiling.

1. Japan has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the world. Japan's central bank has traditionally maintained ultra-low interest rates (even keeping it negative in many periods) to counter deflation. Over the past few years, the Japanese Yen has been steadily eroding relative to the dollar. 

2. Japan is currently experiencing a cost-of-living squeeze driven by rising food and energy prices. 

3. Earlier this month, Sanae Takaichi (of the Liberal Democratic Party) won a snap Japanese election and retained her position as Japan's prime minister.

4. For her new term, Takaichi has proposed the following - 

            a) Large-scale increases in government spending in areas of AI, shipbuilding, etc. 

            b) Cutting the consumption tax on food and providing tax relief on fuel and energy. 

            d) A more assertive posture toward China and closer security alignment with the United States.

'Monoculture' refers to the phenomenon in which large segments of society share common media consumption and associated cultural references. This phenomenon peaked in the mid-20th century to the early 2000s - examples include The Beatles dominating music, Friends commanding over 50 million live viewers in the US alone, Bollywood films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge uniting audiences across India and its diaspora. 

In contrast, today's media landscape is much more fractured, and strangers typically share little media consumption in common.

The 'Defining Decade' is a cultural norm which urges young adults to persistently pursue life goals, even at the expense of significantly neglecting immediate desires. As part of this approach it is common to seek to maximise educational value from most activities, seek more responsibility at work, seek instrumental value from social relationships, and stigmatise idle time

A developmental state is one where the government actively steers industrial growth by protecting key sectors through a system of preferential tax breaks and subsidies. E.g., South Korean govt promoting the Chaebols (Samsung)

An entrepreneurial state is one where the government actively takes on high-risk investments to create entirely new technologies and markets, shaping the direction of innovation rather than just upgrading existing industries. E.g., US establishment of NASA, DARPA and NIH

"‘The revolution’ refers to student-led protests in Bangladesh against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which culminated in her ousting; the protests were driven by demands for a more representative democratic system. Following her removal, the country was led by an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Subsequent elections saw a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led coalition (which has previously governed Bangladesh three times) win a majority. Bangladesh's new prime minister is the dynastic Tarique Rahman, son of former PM Khaleda Zia. His career has been marked with allegations of nepotism by political rivals and he returns to the country after 17 years exile in the UK. 

The newly formed, student-backed National Citizen Party (NCP) aligned itself electorally with Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the country’s largest religion-based political party but managed to secure only 6 seats.  

Post-election, implementation of the proposed “July Charter”, which calls for structural reforms such as the creation of an upper house of Parliament, stronger checks on executive power, and enhanced judicial independence, remains under consideration, with several BNP leaders reportedly reluctant to commit to adopting these measures."

Faith-tech refers to digital technologies used to support or mediate religious practice and engagement, e.g., digital darshan, virtual church, AI tools for answering theological questions, etc. 

Investment in faith-tech has risen in recent years, particularly driven by venture capital firms backing faith-tech startups