King University

This article interrogates the role of merit as a criterion for allocating public and social goods, with particular emphasis on immigration and citizenship regimes in the Global North. Although portrayed as a vehicle of de-ethnicisation/-racialisation, merit in practice operates through implicit and indirect mechanisms of ethnicisation and racialisation - which I term 'neo-racialisation'. As such, merit proves both legally and normatively problematic, perpetuating historical 'blood hierarchies' under a modern and ostensibly neutral guise. Analysing citizenship-by-investment (CBI) and residency-by-investment (RBI) programmes in the European Union, the Article reveals a paradox at the heart of meritocracy critiques: while merit-based selection schemes are embedded in ethno-racial hierarchies, opposition to such schemes is itself frequently embedded in such logics - an aspect largely neglected in existing scholarship. This tension calls for deeper examination of the neo-racialisation entrenched in the broader global citizenship regime. Focusing on the European Union as a case study, the article advances the argument that, despite their flaws, CBI and RBI schemes might represent the 'lesser evil', justified on four grounds: being egalitarian, anti-racist, anti-colonial and human rights-based.

Collaboration with an enemy during an armed conflict is as old as warfare itself. As a sociopolitical phenomenon it is hard to define, capture and deal with. In essence, collaboration entails assisting the enemy, in the sense that civilians or combatants belonging to one party to the conflict assist the opposing side by, for example, providing information, helping in administration of occupied territories or engaging in propaganda. However, boundaries of collaboration as a type of criminal behavior, as well as its distinction from other forms of interaction with the enemy, pose a serious legal issue that is challenging to resolve. Ever since the beginning of the Russian–Ukrainian war in 2014, collaboration with the Russian occupying forces has been a widespread social phenomenon. Ukraine criminalized collaboration only after the full-scale invasion of Russian troops in 2022. By mapping the current legal landscape of such criminalization and its implementation by the criminal justice system, this article analyses the contentious boundaries of this prohibition and questionable practices of its enforcement. Using the case study of Ukraine, it aims to open a discussion on the effectiveness of criminalization and prosecution of collaborators as the means to protect national security during warfare.

Urban rail transit (URT) networks can evolve substantially over time, with an increasing number and complexity of interactions between network components. In such networks, seemingly small disruptions can trigger cascading network service failures, affecting commuter comfort and experience. This study seeks to address the resilience of URT networks to service disruptions by understanding network evolution for resilience planning. Specifically, it develops the Network Resilience Assessment Framework (NRAF) to assess whether URT network structures are inherently resilient to service disruptions over time. The NRAF was applied to Beijing Subway data to evaluate the correlation between network evolution and service resilience. Key network evolution metrics, such as station line degree, clustering, and scaling factors, were analyzed to determine their impact on service resilience. The findings indicate that service resilience is correlated with the network's evolution. Both a high station line degree and clustering contribute to absorbing the impacts of service disruptions, while lower scaling factors are associated with higher annual average service resilience. The results suggest that promoting URT networking is an effective strategy for mitigating the impact of service disruptions. The study provides evidence that enhancing resilience can be achieved by fostering a more densely connected network and by decentralizing and reducing hierarchical differences at the global network level. The analysis reveals that the evolution of URT networking does not exhibit the characteristics of adverse effects diffusion, as highlighted in some previous studies. Instead, our findings provide a complementary perspective, emphasizing the role of decentralization and enhanced local connectivity in improving network resilience. These findings have immediate positive implications for Beijing URT and other evolving networks worldwide.

Brain network development differs between neurodivergent (ND) and neurotypical (NT) youth, but its developmental trajectory, and relationship to clinical outcomes, remains unclear. We examined age-related changes in functional network connectivity and clinical symptoms in 861 participants (5-21 years) from the Healthy Brain Network, including NT youth and those with Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Functional connectivity during movie-watching was modeled using generalized additive models across eight large-scale networks to characterize nonlinear developmental trajectories. Divergence in connectivity profiles between ND and NT groups first emerged during late childhood and were largest during adolescence. Importantly, divergence in connectivity patterns followed a similar trajectory path, but preceded, divergence in clinical outcomes. These findings identify adolescence as a sensitive period when differences in patterns of brain activity and clinical differences become increasingly pronounced, highlighting a potential window for targeted intervention.