Key Terms

Ethics constitutes a reflection on morality that seeks to analyze, criticize, and interpret rules, roles, and relations within society.

In short, governing power in an autocracy is concentrated around one individual whereas democracies grant governing authority to the people or to governing officials through free elections.

Cultural relativism is the view that ethical and social standards reflect the cultural context from which they are derived.

Intergenerational justice concerns the moral responsibilities shared among different generations. Theories of intergenerational justice analyze the scope of these obligations.

Democratic backsliding, a phenomenon sometimes characterized as an “erosion,” is the process of declining integrity for democratic values or institutions in a political system.

Generative AI refers to a class of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that produce outputs such as text, images, datasets, or other media in response to user prompts.

Applied ethics is a field of study that examines how ethical theories and moral principles can be used to address real-world problems or questions.

Nuclear deterrence refers to a principle in international relations where the retaliatory potential and destructive force of nuclear weapons prevents nations from launching a nuclear attack.

Cyber espionage refers to the practice of leveraging Internet and digital technologies to secretly acquire intelligence or sensitive information to gain a political or economic advantage.

AI governance is the set of rules, regulations, ethical and technical frameworks, and similar mechanisms that guide the development and deployment of artificial intelligence technologies.

Just war is warfare that is justified by a moral or legal tradition. Just war theory presumes that there are legitimate uses of war but also sets moral boundaries on the waging of war.

Internationalism is a principle that espouses increased cooperation between nations across political, economic, and cultural exchanges.

Human rights are moral and legal norms covering the freedoms and protections that all individuals are entitled to by virtue of their humanity.

Humanitarian law is a set of principles and treaties outlining the conduct of nations engaged in warfare that aim to protect combatants and civilians affected by conflicts.