World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

One of the more troubling aspects of the US intervention against the Islamic State is that it is, in many respects, more closely aligned with American allies than it is with American enemies.   It is a Sunni-based organization, a sympathy shared with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt.  American enemies, such as Iran, are Shia-based.  In fighting the Islamic State, US interests coincide with Iran and contradict the interests of Saudi Arabia.  Edward Luce of the Financial Times writes about this inconsistency and reminds us of an important fact:  there have been no Shia-based terror attacks against the US.  All terror attacks have been made by groups implicitly supported by Saudi Arabia.

Income inequality is the virtually universal consequence of the process of globalization:  capital tends to be rewarded more richly than labor in an economic system that benefits from significantly reduced costs of production.  One of the most troubling aspects of income inequality is that most people are not fully aware of its extent.  Most of us have no idea what the richest among us really make–we usually compare ourselves to the people we see around us.   But the truly rich are almost beyond comprehension.   Indeed, income inequality in the US is currently worse than what existed during the Roman Empire (including the slaves).  Most troubling, income inequality in the US is as skewed as it was just before the Great Depression.

The protests in Hong Kong have persisted and grown in size.   The issue is whether the citizens of Hong Kong will preserve the right to nominate their own elected officials.   In 1984, Great Britain signed an agreement with China to restore Chinese control over Hong Kong in 1997, and that for a period fifty years Hong Kong would be treated as a Special Administrative Region.  China agreed that Hong Kong would be guaranteed the civil rights available to all Chinese citizens while under British rule until 2047.  The Central government in Beijing wishes to nominate its own candidates to run Hong Kong, and many protesters believe that the move violates the “one country, two systems” policy of the 1984 agreement.  The current protests are regarded as “illegal” by the Beijing government, and there is little question that the protests are a serious challenge to the Beijing government.  The official Chinese government website (www.gov.cn) does not mention the protests, but one can find its report on the protests at http://www.china.org.cn/china/2014-09/29/content_33643206.htm.