Crimea Crisis and Tax Reform in the USA - Assignment Example

Civics research paper Introduction The role of Crimea in the recent turbulence between the relationship between Russia and USA will be discussed here. The tax reforms strategies followed by USA will be followed in the next part of the paper. It is important to consider an economic indicator in the discussion and so wealth gap has been discussed in the next section of the paper. The fourth issue will revolve around the cyber attacks faced by all countries and especially USA. Thesis Statement: The role of Crimea, tax reforms, wealth gap and cyber attacks on the context of USA. Issue 1: Crimea Crises After the end of the cold war between USA and undivided USSR the global fraternity has witnessed a relatively peaceful political relationship between the Russia and USA. But recently that relationship has been disturbed by the case of Crimea. Crimea peninsula shares significantly close proximity with the Russian boundary. Recently the peninsula has witnessed significant unrest. The whole unrest is due to the hostile relationship between the Ukraine and Russia. Recently the pro-Russian people of the Crimea have asked for the integration of Crimea with the Russian territory (Nile, Spencer, Coffey & Loris). But Ukrainian government denied that facilities. Protests broke out across the Crimea and the effect of protest was prominent in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev also. Here comes the main issue. Russian president Putin supported the activities of pro-Russian people to integrate the Crimea as an integral part of the Russia. America has clearly stated its opposition against that aggressive movement of Moscow. America’s opposition raised significant political issues between the two countries. Pro-Russian people of Crimea conducted a referendum to seek the views of the citizens of the peninsula. Ukrainian has asked for the assistance of US. Being a responsible global power USA could not ignore the situation also. So the country has gone for several financial sanctions for Russia and also has urged to the international community to come up with some strict actions against Russia. This political decision is not at all free from problem. Russian government also has issued some sanctions against the US (Kourosh). The gravity of this political issue cannot be ignored at all. In this modern interconnected world every decision has its own cascading reactions. Financial sanctions applied by the Russia can hamper the economic situation of the country. This Crimean incident has created lots of hue and cry in the US Congress also. Russia has signed a pact with the local governing authority of Crimea and has included the peninsula as a part of their sovereign territory. This political development is somewhat humiliating for the US and has raised the lots of questions in the minds of US citizens. US have war of words with Russia. The people of the country want no more war after Afghanistan and Iraq but they certainly want some political boldness from the decision makers of the country. Issue 2: Tax reform Over the year tax reforms has been a serious issue in USA. In the last two decades lots of countries have lowered their corporate taxes. Only USA has remained rather indifferent in this matter. The country has highest corporate tax among the all developed nations in the world. The results of this high corporate tax are fewer investments in the country. It discourages investments and reduces wages. To bring back the confidence of the investors, it is obvious for the Federal Government to make reforms in their Federal tax policies. After the recession the country has able to lower down its unemployment rate. But the present tax structure of the country is not suitable for the sustainable economic growth. Over the year US congress and President has failed to address this issue. Due to the complex and messy tax code of the country almost 90% of the total tax payers have financial software or the accountants to file their returns. Slowly but surely public outrage is gaining its voice against the whole tax system of the country. Over the years the pages related with the Federal tax rule have been increased but unfortunately it delivered pretty less. (Source: The Economist) The above graphical representation is giving an idea about how the number of pages of Federal tax rule has been increased. Dissatisfaction related with present Federal tax system has sparked significant debate among the citizen of the country. The citizen of the country is fade up with the lack of transparency and complexity of the Federal tax system. Surely the country needs significant tax reforms. Due to the current tax policies the nation is facing a serious fiscal imbalance which is not a good indicator for country’s economy. With the current tax system, honest tax payers of the country believe that some individuals of the society and some privileged organizations are not paying the proper taxes (Claude, Makin, Mathur, Viard, Pinto, Jensen, and Oliner & Eisenach). This sense of distrust among the common people is also a matter of worry. There is no doubt in it that the nation needs serious tax reform to bring back its economy towards the right path. A proper tax reform is significantly necessary to control the ever increasing fiscal deficits of the country. Issue 3: Wealth gap The income inequality in The United States of America has been a key economic as well as social issue in the country. The wealth gap in the country has been steadily increasing and has been posing as a danger to the necessary balance in the society. The inequality among the richer sections of the society and the poorer sections of the society had been stable for a long a long time. However, after the 1970s, the wealth gap has started widening in the American society and has reached an alarming level. According to the United States Census data, half of the total population of the United States lives in poverty. This issue is also associated with the issue of poverty which has been damaging the American society since a long time. Inequality in income is generally noted among countries which are less economically developed. Therefore, the inequality in income in the United States of America despite the nation being of the most powerful economies in the world hints at an underlying core problem in the country which should be resolved in order to make the society more balanced and efficient (Gilbert 140). Post 2008, the distribution of household income has also become high level among the American households. The return to high inequality after the 1970s which is also known as the Great divergence has been affecting overall society and the economy of America to a high extent. It is noted by many economists that the income inequality of the United States is the higher in the rich world. Also, in the past 30 years, the American society has experienced the largest increase in wealth gaps among the rich countries. The relative gains in the society are also concentrated in the richer sections of the society while the poorer sections of the American society have experienced minimal or nil relative gains in income levels in the last 20-30 years. An increasing income inequality can intensify the poverty levels in the country which is already a major concern. Also, this kind of concentration of income can be identified to be incompatible and unsustainable with respect to real democracy (Beeghley 45). This is an issue of much concern as it adds to the disparities in the construction of the society in the United States and is likely to act as a major obstacle in the development of the society and the country in the future. A number of policies have been introduced in the United States as measures to control the heightening wealth gap in the society. These policy responses include strengthening the social safety mechanisms like food stamp programs, social security, Medicaid, aid to families which have dependent members, education subsidies and progressive tax incidence adjustments (Thompson & Hickey 170). Issue 4: Cyber Attacks Cyber-attacks are considered to be the most critical issues faced by the United States of America in relation to the society of the country. The nature of threats to security systems has always been defined by physical dimensions like weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, nuclear welfare etc. However, in the modern scenario, the roles of digital technologies have become more prominent than physical weapons for threatening the security of the country. The cyber-attacks are considered to be potentially disruptive for the security of the country. The cyber defense of the United States has been identified to have major loopholes in the recent years. The fear of cyber-attacks on the resources of the country including military controls and critical infrastructure and other assets has made it significant for the United States to establish more stringent and effective security measures (Abrahams 78). The potential of cyber-attacks is wide enough to cause irreparable damages to the country. The United States faces the threats of cyber-attack to critical infrastructures of the country including the pentagon computers, dam controls, power plant controls as a way of disabling the equipment of the enemy and incapacitating the communication channels. Therefore, the country has to remain prepared and adequately protected in its cyberspace to ensure that the security controls are properly maintained. The White House has embarked on an in-depth cyber security initiative to protect the sensitive data from the hackers and cyber attackers. Also the pentagon has vowed to introduce cyber counter attacks which are likely to make the position of the United States more secured in the face of increasing threats of cybercrimes and attacks (The White House 2). Works cited Abrahams, Rebecca. Whats Wrong With Americas Cyber Security Policy? 2014. Web. 29 September 2014. . Barfield, Claude, John H. Makin, Aparna Mathur, Alan D. Viard, Edward J. Pinto, Matthew H. Jensen, Stephen D. Oliner & Jeffrey Eisenach. Five challenges facing the American economy in 2014. 2014. Web. 29 September 2014. < http://www.aei.org/article/economics/five-challenges-facing-the-american-economy-in-2014/>. Beeghley, Leonard. The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. 2004. Print. Gardiner, Nile, Jack Spencer, Luke Coffey & Nicolas Loris. Beyond the Crimea Crisis: Comprehensive Next Steps in U.S.–Russian Relations. 2014. Web. 29 September 2014. < http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/03/beyond-the-crimea-crisis-comprehensive-next-steps-in-usrussian-relations>. Gilbert, Dennis. American Class Structure in an Age of Growing Inequality. Stamford: Wadsworth. 2002. Print. The Economist. Simpler, fairer, possible. 2013. Web. 29 September 2014. < http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21581738-imperfect-proposal-could-still-improve-americas-awful-tax-code-back-it-mr-president-simpler>. The White House. Cyber security. 2014. Web. 29 September 2014. < http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/cybersecurity>. Thompson, William & Joseph Hickey. Society in Focus. Boston: Pearson. 2005. Print. Ziabari, Kourosh. The Crimean Crisis and US Hypocrisy. War of Words to Justify Outright Aggression. 2014. Web. 29 September 2014. < http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-crimean-crisis-and-us-hypocrisy-war-of-words-to-justify-outright-aggressions/5375928>. Read More