by Shaan Verma ’14

Environmental Change

Climate change is a hazard to the world as a whole, threatening to destabilize environments and what is left of natural habitats. It is an issue that is endangering entire species of animals such as polar bears and fish populations, but Obama and Romney have neglected not to speak on this issue. Through its apathy, the general public of the United States has made it clear that this is not a major issue that needs to be talked over and debated. It is the lack of interest about the environment by many Americans that has removed it as one of the hot-button issues.

Violence In Syria

There has been a great deal of conflict in the Middle Eastern country of Syria. Civil war, unstable government and thousands of refugees rest on the violent government’s shoulders. This is a global issue that the presidential candidates conveniently left out of their platforms. Obama and Romney are reluctant to make promises that they may be unable to keep regarding military intervention or other actions. Adding Syria to the platform may just make it political fodder in future elections.

America’s Poor

As the presidential candidates strive to enlarge the amount of money that middle class families have at their disposal, they have left out a large demographic of people: the lower class. The current economic plans of Obama and Romney focus on the middle class because they do not want to anger a powerful segment of the voting American population. Poverty has been a growing issue in the world and in the United States ever since the beginning of the 2008 global recession. Unfortunately for those in grim economic situations, neither candidate will likely win or lose the election on the votes of poor Americans.

Troops Still in Afghanistan

As the presidential candidates go back and forth about the economy and health care, American troops are still deployed in Afghanistan. Obama and Romney rarely discuss the war. Romney even failed to mention the troops at all in his convention speech. Even with recent draw-downs, some number of Americans are expected to remain in Afghanistan until at least 2014. The planned withdrawal of Americans from Afghanistan is a complex matter because of continued Taliban attacks. Neither candidate has yet to propose a viable solution to withdraw the remaining troops from an unstable and violent Afghanistan.