From the perspective of geopolitics, the U.S. faces several difficult challenges. One is presented by the Peoples' Republic of China. For the past two decades the PRC has been growing at about 10% per year, while our economic growth has ground to nearly a halt. If these trends continue for the next 50 years, by that time the economy of the PRC will be six times as large as that of the U.S. Historically, the big economic gorilla has generally become the big military gorilla as well. The PRC could well be the next world hegemonic power.

The second major problem is that we have alienated a large number of the worlds' 1 billion Muslims and driven many into the radical "jihadist" camp. In the Persian Gulf, in particular, we have set up an ideal situation for the emergency of an aggressive Shi'a Islamic state. (Both Iran and Iraq have a majority of Shi'a.)

Pretend you are making policy for the U.S. What policies might you consider? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Which ones would you choose, and why? 250-500 words max.