NEW YORK
Despite negotiations and seeming improvements, managing tensions with Iran and China will remain as the major challenges facing Washington in 2014.
The six main global challenges in 2014 will be Iran, China, Syria, drone warfare, privacy and inequality, according to Director of Global Economic Attitudes at the Pew Research Center Bruce Stokes.
After Iran reached an interim agreement with P5+1 countries- five United Nations permanent members (the US, UK, Russia, China and France) and Germany- to curb Iran's nuclear program in November, the first six months of 2014 will be dedicated to negotiating a final deal.
The Pew Center indicates that American skepticism has not fully evaporated on the issue as only 32 percent of Americans approve of the deal, while four in ten approve of Obama’s handling of US dealings with Tehran.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support preventing Iranians from developing nuclear weapons, even if it means taking military action against Iran, according to the same source.
Meanwhile, rivalry with China is predicted to continue in 2014 as China’s recent territorial disputes in the South and East China seas could provoke widespread reactions this year.
The Pew Center reports that two-thirds of Chinese people think their country “has already or will one day replace Washington as the world’s leading super power,” a point with which nearly 50 percent of Americans agree.
Meanwhile, US military allies – the Philippines, Japan and South Korea - also say disputes with China, including territorial ones over the seas and islands in the region, “are a big problem” for them.
On the other hand, the Syria crisis has dropped to third place, even though the Geneva II peace conference will be central to the US agenda in coming monthsi alongside efforts to destoy Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles by the end of June.
The crisis may become a renewed issue, especially if the Geneva II conference scheduled by the UN for January 22 does not yield tangible results under the leadership of Washington and Moscow.
Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine remain concerned that the “violence in Syria will spread to neighboring countries,” notes the Pew Center.
Amid controversial drone warfare, the fourth challenge on Pew's list, the US will be under the microscope as the world observes how the Obama administration will develop policies on the use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).
This issue is “likely” to continue to fuel anti-American sentiment as it is widely opposed around the globe.
Out of the 39 nations surveyed by the Pew Research Center in 2013, half or more of the public in 31 countries disapproved of such military action. However, widespread condemnation may not reverse Washington's position as the Pew Center predicts, “US drone strikes could well continue in 2014” with half of Americans thinking that “such actions have made the US safer from terrorism.”
Privacy became a hot topic in 2013 after whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed documents about the US government’s surveillance programs, causing widespread outrage among European publics, while most Americans expressed the belief that the National Security Agency's (NSA) programs made the country safer from terrorism.
Meanwhile, inequality worldwide is predicted to be in the spotlight as the publics in most countries believe the economic system works in favor of the wealthy as the disparity between the wealthy and impoverished has increased over the last half decade.
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