Explain like I'm 5: Foreign relations of the US

Factual Questions
1

I would just like an overview on US relations–specifically with Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Syria–explained in a manner that is concise and easy to understand for ignorant people like myself.

Some questions I have about each relation:
[ul]
[li]Why are US relations with Iran so tense?[/li][li]What has been going on in Russia since 1992? Why did so many people become super rich after the USSR dissolved? What economic and social policies does Russia have now (i.e., did she adopt a Western-style market economy)? What is the relationship between Putin and Trump? Why would Russians hack the 2016 election?[/li][li]What is the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia? If the US is so committed to spreading “democratic” and “universal” values around the globe and puts sanctions on countries who commit “human rights violations,” why does it make an exception for Saudi Arabia?[/li][li]What was the war in Syria about? Who won in the end?[/li][li]And just one more question regarding the Middle East in general. It seems that before regressing to Islamic fundamentalism, a few countries in the Middle East seemed to be developing along a Western path (i.e., market economy, progressive social values, and secularism). What, then, caused the regression?[/li][/ul]
Educate me.

2

Muddibog, welcome to the Straight Dope. These are not simple questions appropriate to General Questions. In addition, trying to answer so many diverse questions in a single thread would be extremely confusing.

I suggest you would be better focusing for now on one or two of these questions, and starting a new thread in on each separately in Great Debates. (You shouldn’t have more than a couple active threads on the first page each day, to allow room for threads by others.)

We have many threads on these topics on the board. I would suggest you might want to at least skim these before starting new threads in order to better focus your questions.

Good luck.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator