Bro is a man in his fifties of median income with a stable job. Bro lives in a liberal democracy with his loving wife and a loving child. Dude is Bro's dog, who is young and healthy.

The term "iPad children" describes children that have excessive screen time through unrestricted access of electronic devices such as phones, tablets and computers , usually provided by their parents

Recently, Xi Jinping has taken a series of diplomatic trips and missions across South East Asia (Malaysia, Vietnam) to reaffirm ties and push for unity against Trump's Liberation Day Tariffs. It is projected that more diplomatic missions between ASEAN and China will occur as the US-China trade war escalates.

(1) In early April 2025, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) concluded two-day war games codenamed “Strait Thunder 2025A” around Taiwan, involving long-range live-fire rocket drills and carrier operations in the East China Sea.

(2) The Quad refers to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a group involving the US, Japan, India, and Australia, aimed at securing stability within Australasia.

Neobanks (e.g. Chime, N26, GX Bank) are financial institutions that offer banking services entirely online. Neobanks have no physical branches, and are legally classified as fintech entities rather than licensed, regulated banks.

Open source software is released under a license allowing anybody to freely examine, alter, and distribute the software and its source code

AI chatbots are software engineered to emulate real or fictional individuals. They are able to autonomously produce context-appropriate responses that increasingly mirror speech patterns, emotional nuance, and personality traits of the character they are "replicating". Recent breakthroughs in generative AI and NLP have dramatically enhanced their fluency and apparent “humaneness".

For the purposes of the debate, a "fragile democracy" is a democratic state wherein the quality and stability of government is inconsistent, e.g., frequent conflict between the ruling (majority) party and the opposition (minority) party, widespread populism, and authoritarian tendencies. Fragile democracies are still functional states.

Growth metrics refers to the measurable improvement in a student’s knowledge over a specified period. Proficiency metrics refers to student’s level of mastery or competence in a subject at a single point in time, typically benchmarked against predefined standards.