The US strategy in the Middle East suffers because it is largely incoherent. The US seems to be reacting to events and does not seem to be guided by a vision of what its true goals and interests in the region actually are. Part of this incoherence, however, is due to the fact that US allies in the region are operating at cross-purposes. For example, Turkey seems to think that the Kurds are more of a threat tot Turkey than the Islamic State. And even though Iranian interests and American interests in the region are growing closer, the US seems to be reluctant to embrace that politically inconvenient fact. Until the US makes its own objectives crystal clear, then it is unlikely that its allies will be able to support a sustained or coherent policy.
China continues to forge a different path in economic and political development. Rather than rely exclusively on markets and representative democracy, China develops central plans to guide the overall economy which are then implemented at different levels of government. But the Chinese government makes a concerted effort to elicit public support for the plans and, over time, the government has become even more sophisticated in selling its Five Year Plans. Such as releasing this video to appeal to young people:
Income inequality continues to worsen in the US (and globally). The most recent indicator of income inequality is in retirement incomes. The Center for Effective Government and the Institute for Policy Studies have released a study that shows that the retirement accounts of the top 100 CEOs average about $49.3 million per executive, or a combined $4.9 billion. That amount is equal to the entire retirement accounts of 41 percent of U.S. families — or more than 116 million people. It is highly unlikely that these CEOs really care about whether Social Security remains solvent in the coming years.
World Politics News 
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