Catherine Kress explains the economic and political constraints leaders face in responding to the recent wave of global protests.
Protest movements - most prominently in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia - have become a feature of the geopolitical landscape. Each protest is distinct, with different proximal causes, but there appear to be underlying patterns.
Concentrated wealth and income inequality are a key theme. Median incomes have stagnated around the world in recent decades, while the share of the top 1% of earners has grown sharply, as shown in the chart below. The rising