A modern economy is usually based on a few industries or economic pillars that keep the economy afloat, resilient and viable in the long term. The loss of these staple pillars to an economy often results in eventual economic and political decline, and in some cases can lead to fairly rapid economic collapse. No political […]
The recent news that Venezuela will be providing Iran with 1 million hectares of arable land for farming draws further concern from the security circles concerned about the Islamic Republic’s growing influence in the Western Hemisphere. That follows a rapidly growing energy collaboration between Caracas and Tehran following the Biden administration’s decision to lift oil […]
The legacy of the Cuban Revolution that marks the daily life of Cubans to this day has taken a blow as Cuban citizens fight for their freedoms. The past narratives, posters, painting and songs of the fight against the Capitalists was always a draw for those outside of Cuba to defend and actively support the […]
The United States Embassy in Havana in October. CreditYamil Lage/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images On January 9, U.S. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson opened a formal inquiry into mysterious “sonic attacks” purportedly damaging the health of U.S. diplomatic personnel stationed at the American Embassy in Cuba. The first reports surfaced in December 2016, and since […]
In an April 2015 Gallup poll, President Obama’s administration won the highest approval rating of any world leader among non-U.S. citizens.
Climate change doesn’t recognize ideological or geographic boundaries. The body of water that threatens to take a big bite out of Cuba is doing the same to dozens of cities along the coastline of the southernmost state of its nemesis to the north—Florida.
On March 15, President Obama announced that certain travel restrictions between the United States and Cuba would be reduced in preparation for his visit to the small island country.
Obama has already begun the process of normalizing relations with Raul Castro’s government. However, it will fall upon the next U.S. President to end the island’s economic isolationism.
Last week an agreement between the U.S. and Cuba to end a sixty year freeze on relations ended. Canada and the Vatican had been working in secret with U.S. and Cuban representatives in order to end a freeze on relations that has lasted three generations.
It has taken 50 years for a commercial flight from the United States to have official permission to land with American passengers in Cuba, but recently a small plane from Key West has done just that. Despite it being a small plane with less than a dozen passengers, it is representative of a thaw between […]
Sometimes you look at it, and it seems a fairly straight-forward, if somewhat bizarre, story. Then again, it bears a hint of mystery. A North Korean dry-cargo merchant vessel, MV Chong Chon Gang, traveling from Cuba to the Panama Canal, was boarded by Panamanian military personnel on suspicion that it was carrying contraband narcotics. […]
The recent international shipping scandal involving the Chong Chon Gang, a decrepit, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-flagged (DPRK) cargo ship with a dodgy track record has raised many important questions involving contemporary issues on the international laws of international security, maritime law, human rights, and labor rights. This high-profile incident occurred not long after the […]
Last week, Raul Castro announced that he would step down from power in 2018. The last Castro to leave the seat of power in Havana is effectively ending a half-century long novella starting in the 1950s, etching the names of Castro and Che across all of Cuba and world history. The strength of the left […]
President Obama over the last four years has had as successful a record on Latin America as the last two presidents before him. It can be argued he has had some added success in the region considering luck and policy with Colombia gaining a handle on its own internal conflict and Cuba slowly reforming to […]
2011 evidenced our inability to predict substantial change and respond to tumultuous events. The ramifications of foreign policy decisions will not show their true colors for some time. Below, I discuss notable states – Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Qatar, Cuba, Burma, Ivory Coast, Norway, Israel, and Palestine – that I believe are important because of their effects on peace […]