In a market-based system (e.g. the US and UK), firms raise most external finance directly from private investors via stock and bond markets.

In a bank-based system (e.g. Germany and Japan), firms rely on long-term relationships with commercial banks for credit.

Under a market-based system, shareholders monitor the management and governance of the firm; under a bank-based system, the bank does so.

In recent years, the United Arab Emirates' foreign policy has increasingly diverged from the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia. The UAE has recently left OPEC, independently deepened its security ties with the United States and Israel, and taken an aggressive stance on Iran (which contrasts with Saudi Arabia's pursuit of détente with Iran). The UAE has also increased its unilateral involvement in military conflicts in the region, including military interventions and support for armed forces in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa.

Institutional funding for public research is government funding given directly to universities and public research institutions as stable, long-term grants. Institutions have autonomy to decide their research priorities.

Project funding, by contrast, involves funding agencies awarding grants for projects through competitive processes. Researchers are required to submit grant proposals that outline specific objectives, timelines, and deliverables.

Other academic purposes, such as teaching, are funded separately.

Psychiatric deinstitutionalisation was the shift in the 1950s-60s away from housing and treating people with mental illnesses in large long-term psychiatric institutions and toward treatment in community-based settings (e.g. at home, outpatient clinics, general practitioners).

Behind-the-meter generation, also known as “off grid” generation, is a form of private, independent energy generation.

In the United States, energy-intensive facilities (e.g. data centres and factories) are often equipped with private, on-site power plants which are powered by gas, green energy with batteries, or mini nuclear reactors. The power plants remain independent of the public energy grid; some may, however, keep a limited connection for backup or to sell surplus power.

From 1945 to 1990, Kosovo was an autonomous region within Serbia, which was part of Yugoslavia. Most of Kosovo is ethnically Albanian and follows Islam.

In 1999, NATO intervened in Serbia on humanitarian grounds to protect the Kosovo Albanian population. Following this, Serbia's police and military forces left the region.

In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence with extensive political and economic support from the West. Today, Kosovo is recognised by around half of all UN Member States, including most of the EU and NATO. Notable countries that do not recognise Kosovo include Serbia and the five founding BRICS states.

Under the “Dutch Model” for sex work, both buying and selling sex are legal. Licensed brothels, escort services, and independent prostitution are allowed and regulated as a form of labour.

Under the “Nordic Model” for sex work, selling sex is generally legal, but buying sex is illegal. Brothels and third-party facilitation of prostitution are also illegal.