In 2015, country approaches Cuba and Iran, but was faced with old ills: new attacks with weapons and episodes of racial and religious tension. Turbulence must be reflected in the presidential campaign.
US President Barack Obama, broke two big taboos in foreign policy in 2015: reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba and made a nuclear deal with Iran.
"People can not admit it in public," said John Limbert, a former deputy secretary of state assistant to Iran. "But instead of doing what we were doing for 34 or 35, who was threaten and insult each other, we have been able to talk to others, not as friends, but talking to others. "
The nuclear deal with Iran provoked strong opposition from Israel, one of the closest US allies. In March, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has made active lobbying against the deal in a speech to the Congress of
USA - an unprecedented attitude.
"They see that the nuclear deal is not the end of the road," said William Quandt, who worked on the National Security Council during the administrations of Richard Nixon (1969-1973) and Jimmy Carter (1977-1981). "This is possibly the beginning of the restoration of a more cooperative relationship between the US and Iran. And that's what worries countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel."
Wars do not end
While negotiated with US opponents, the president sought to end controversial wars. But the rise of the jihadist group "Islamic State" (EI) has hindered his plans.
Three years after the withdrawal, US troops returned to Iraq to fight the EI. In October, the President decided that after he left the White House, more than 5000 men will remain stationed in Afghanistan to prevent the advance of the Taliban and the EI branches growing in the country.
"This new dynamic of EI is quite disturbing, and they have their eyes focused on Central Asia," said Thomas Johnson, an expert on war in Afghanistan postgraduate course of the American Navy. "You're seeing a lot of congressmen who are saying we can not let what happened in Iraq occur in Afghanistan."
LGBT and women make progress
By mid-year, gays and lesbians have won the right to marry across the country, capping a decades-long struggle and a profound change in people's attitude towards homosexuality.
Earlier this month, the military opened up combat positions for women in one of the few areas of the country where gender discrimination was still an official policy.
And there is a great possibility that the US has its first president. Hillary Clinton is leading the Democratic primary with the support of 60%. In opinion polls on the presidential elections, draws or wins all current presidential candidates Republicans.
The death of a young black decommissioned in Ferguson sparked national outrage and polarized the country
Racial and religious tension
While the LGBT community obtains rights in American society, other communities were not so lucky. Muslims have been the target of increasing discriminatory rhetoric in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.
Thirty-one governors opposed to receiving Syrian refugees, while Republican presidential candidate leading in the primaries, Donald Trump, asked for a complete ban on the entry of Muslims in America. Your Jeb Bush rival, in turn, said that the country should focus on the reception of Syrian Christians.
"There is a clear correlation between what has been defended and propagated in the media regarding anti-Muslim rhetoric, and how this translates into impact on the real lives of American supporters of the Muslim religion," says Yasmine Taeb, who led research on the anti-Islamic sentiment to the Institute Center for American Progress.
Racial tensions were also intense amid recurring incidents of unarmed black people dying at the hands of the police. In the case of Baltimore, protests April became international affair, exposed old wounds of American society and had more than 200 people arrested.
Armed violence
In June, a racist declared opened fire at a historic church frequented by the black community in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine faithful.
"Even white people are horrified," says Harold McDougall, a law professor at Howard University in Washington. "That's not what it was to be. This is not a US post-racial division."
The massacre sparked a new debate about white supremacy in the US and its symbols, in particular in relation to the Confederate flag - representing the former slave states of the South.
The shooting in Charleston was one of 30 mass murders in the US in 2015, according to a newspaper USA Today. In a very familiar political refrain used after every great tragedy, President Obama called for stricter control of weapons, while Congress persists in its position.
"Americans are allowing the plague and the insanity of armed violence happen on a large scale to cause anyone to have easy access to weapons," says Jonathan Metzl, an expert on armed violence at Vanderbilt University.
Waiting for change
The social turmoil has passed in the presidential race, with the feeling of challenge feeding unorthodox candidates. When Donald Trump first entered the race, his campaign was seen as little more than a publicity stunt.
Six months later, the New York millionaire dominates the Republican polls, falling little more than a month to hold the first primary of the party.
"Trump is displaying the power I think that white Americans would like to see in response to their reactions to Obama," said Darren Davis, a professor of politics at the University of Notre Dame. "Obama is the antithesis of what they think the US represent."
On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, has become a serious political force, despite being a self-described democratic socialist - an almost offensive word in American politics.
The political landscape is conducive to outsiders. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the US attend a level of income inequality not seen since the 1920s Almost eight years after Obama was elected to the presidency, Americans are still looking for a change.
"There is no room in the race for 2016 messages that really challenge US economic orthodoxies," said John Nichols, correspondent of The Nation magazine in Washington.
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