U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative: Publications, Events and More

Science at the Leading Edge Versus Embargo | Cuba Headlines

Cecille Isidro — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:06:00 -0500

Steve Clemons, director of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation and one of the delegation members, says in a Washington Note blog ...

U.S.-Cuba Policy

Kirsten Gilbert — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:45:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/14/2009 - 12:15pm

After an introduction by Patrick Doherty, the Deputy Director of the American Strategy Program and Director of the U.S.-Cuba 21st Century Policy Initiative at New America, Anne Louise Bardach discussed the her recently published book Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington. Bardach described how an article primarily focused on the Cubana Airlines attack and exiled Cuban militants, including Luis Posada Carriles, transformed into a three-part book covering Fidel Castro's long death, the Castro fascination, and

'Era of Engagement' Includes Cuba

Erin Drankoski — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:11:00 -0400

Last week, President Barack Obama delivered his first address before the United Nations General Assembly. "Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone," he insisted. "We have sought in word and deed a new era of engagement with the world."

Yet, there remains one obvious exception to this new era of engagement with the world: our continuing embargo of Cuba.

Cuba Notwithstanding

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:51:00 -0400

For half a century, the United States has pursued a policy of isolating Cuba in the vain hope that doing so would lead to the downfall of the island's Communist regime. Today that policy is one of the last great historical anachronisms of the Cold War, outliving the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union, despite the fact that it has never accomplished what it was supposed to do. Political realists such as Henry Kissinger have argued for years that the policy undercuts U.S. diplomatic efforts on a host of fronts because it is so widely disliked by other

Engaging Cuba: A New Way Forward

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:23:00 -0400

Administration's Foreign Policy Includes Heavy Dose of Humility | USA Today

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:37:00 -0400

Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to secretary of State Colin Powell and is a frequent critic of the George W. Bush administration, said Obama and Clinton were delivering long-overdue candor. "What a refreshing moment it is to have a president ...

First Step in a Cuban Dance | Global Post

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:27:00 -0400

"It's idiocy" to retain a counter-productive Cold War policy, said Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff, and now leads a Cuban policy initiative for the New America Foundation. ...

Obama Administration Seeking an Incremental Path Towards Normalization with Cuba | Dar Al-Hayat

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:35:00 -0400

... the summit of the Americas this Friday in Trinidad and Tobago, is a "big shift from the policies of the George Bush administration" according to Patrick Doherty, Director of the US-Cuba 21st Century Policy Initiative at the New America Foundation. ...

Retired Military Officers Urge Ending Cuba Travel Ban

Communications — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:23:00 -0400

Washington, D.C. - On Monday, April 13, 2009, a group of 12 former senior U.S. military officials sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to support and sign pending Congressional legislation that would repeal the travel ban for all Americans who wish to visit Cuba.

Click here for text of the letter.

Is It Time to End the Cold War in Latin America?

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:28:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/14/2009 - 8:30am

New Cuba Policy

Communications — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:17:00 -0400

Washington, DC -- President Barack Obama announced changes in policies towards Cuba today, including easing travel restrictions for family members, remittances and gifts to Cuba, and also looking to open up telecommunications with the country.

House Unveils Travel Bill, Lugar Calls for Talks, Menendez Sulks

Communications — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:36:00 -0400

Director of New America Foundation's U.S.-Cuba 21st Century Policy Initiative, Patrick Doherty details reaction to Cuba Travel Bill in The Havana Note:

Dorgan and Enzi Announce Cuba Travel Promotions Act

Communications — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:51:00 -0400

Director of New America Foundation's American Strategy Program and Publisher of The Washington Note, Steve Clemons details Tuesday's announcement of the Cuba Travel Promotion Act:

US-Cuba Policy Change is Coming...

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NGOs Hail Congressional Moves to Ease Embargo | Inter Press Service

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:46:00 -0400

... and that there is momentum behind the efforts to make broader and more lasting changes in policy," said the groups, which also included the US-Cuba Policy Initiative of the New America Foundation (NAF) and the Latin America Working Group here. ...

Will Obama Shift Policy on Cuba? | BBC News

Communications — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:38:00 -0500

... in American foreign policy," write Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief-of-staff to Colin Powell, and Patrick Doherty, from the New America Foundation. ...

New Castro, Old Question for Cuba | Chicago Tribune

Communications — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:14:00 -0500

... shine an unflattering spotlight on their economic management, said Patrick Doherty of the New America Foundation, a Washington public policy institute. ...

An Obama Policy for Cuba

Cecille Isidro — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:05:00 -0500

With his national security team in place, President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy principals will be immediately struck by how many complex and expensive challenges they will face. Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine and Russia, will all require enormous energy, all the tools in our foreign policy toolbox, and will all take years to resolve, if they can be resolved. None of these crises will allow President Obama to signal swiftly to the world the kind of changes he proposes in American foreign policy. In contrast,

Lawrence Wilkerson in Foreign Policy | 'Seven Questions for Larry Wilkerson'

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:46:00 -0400

Foreign Policy: What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each of the candidates in foreign policy? Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Both have strengths. I’m not quite sure what I would describe as Obama’s weaknesses, not because I’m trying to say that he’s perfect but because he’s so unflappable and so far his pronouncements have been so solid. I’m not happy with his reluctance to be more forward on U.S.-Cuba policy. I’m not happy with the need to be more nuanced in Afghanistan; the answer is simply more troops. I’m not that content so far on the economic crisis; there are some things that need to be done and said to the American people, who are carrying on average 13 credit cards, 2-3 maxed out to the hilt. American people bear some responsibility for this crisis. With McCain, I’m alarmed by the lack of sophistication on issues such as Iran; the bomb Iran [idea] seemed to come out of [McCain’s] passion more than his judgment. I’m alarmed by the people around him; [many] are radicals. They are just like the Wolfowitzes and the Pearls of the world. Calling them conservatives offends the title. I have grave difficulty… more

U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative in Scripps News | 'October Surprise?'

Communications — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:39:00 -0400

Could there be an October surprise headed our way from the Caribbean? That's what some Cuba watchers are warning.

After being pummeled by four hurricanes, Cuba is a wreck, with 500,000 homes damaged, 200,000 people homeless and 30 percent of all crops ruined. Schools and hospitals are out of commission, the electrical grid is damaged and food is scarce.

What better time for another boat exodus from the communist island?

That's the thinking of Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff for Colin Powell when he was secretary of state. Wilkerson now is chairman of the U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative at the New America Foundation. LINK

Cuba's October Surprise

Cecille Isidro — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:55:00 -0400

If you live in Galveston, Texas, Hurricane Ike will be remembered for its destruction. But history may remember the ninth named storm of the 2008 season for swinging the 2008 presidential campaign.

That's because Ike devastated a little island off Florida named Cuba. In fact, Cuba sustained damage from four hurricanes: Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike. Gustav hit the Western end of Cuba as a Category 4 storm. Ike entered the east of Cuba as a strong Category 3 then shredded the full length of the island for three days. There were reports of walls of water 50 feet high hitting the north shore.

In a country of more than 11 million people, 2.7 million evacuated their homes when Ike came through. Today, 444,000 homes in Cuba are damaged, meaning up to 2.2 million Cubans are living dangerously or wondering when it will be safe to go home.

Food supplies on the island are nearly exhausted. The crops and livestock for domestic consumption and cash crops like tobacco and sugar cane, necessary for the hard currency to import food - are devastated. The island's electrical grid is severely damaged and in some places non-existent. Communication towers are down across the country. Roads are blocked with rubble from collapsed buildings, trees, or just washed away. Schools, hospitals, and clinics have suffered extensive damage or are non-functioning.

And it will only get worse. With at least $5 billion of damage done to a nation where the average monthly salary is $17, the economy will not be able to support the Cuban population for quite some time. Even the Cuban military is on short-rations with perhaps a week left. With food shelves empty, hoarding and black market price gouging will quickly squeeze all families, displaced or not, with little to no income and no subsistence agriculture to fall back on. As the vast majority of Cubans become malnourished and post-disaster diseases increase in prevalence, the political situation is likely to become much more volatile within Cuba.

All this could occur within the next six weeks. Faced with a displaced, hungry and frustrated population, Havana could do what it has done in the past: allow a mass migration to head north. In 1980, responding to unrest triggered by economic downturn, Havana launched the Mariel boatlift that brought 125,000 Cuban immigrants over a five-month period to South Florida. In 1994, facing another economic catastrophe, the Castro government allowed at least 35,000 Cubans to leave the island - an episode that cost the U.S. Treasury more than $500 million.

The U.S. government is now offering Cuba a $1.5 million package of temporary shelter for 10,000 families and household items for 8,000 with an additional $3.5 million conditional on the survey of a U.S. disaster assessment team.(1) In contrast, Haiti, which was hit by three storms, has already received $19 million in aid from the U.S. government. Even Burma, which has a military dictatorship more repressive than Cuba's and was ravaged by Cyclone Fargis, received $50 million in aid.

Indeed, an increase in funding for traditional humanitarian items is not what Cuba needs or wants from the United States. Their government believes that there would be no prospect of a crisis if the U.S. economic embargo were not blocking them from purchasing the needed supplies on the open market. It can get food from other countries in the region. Rather, Cuba's infrastructure needs repair. They need electrical components like poles, cable, and transformers. They need heavy-duty construction equipment and materials. The only market that can respond fast enough is the United States.

Without those supplies, the boats could very well sail before November. Americans with family in Cuba will be furious with the Bush administration for placing politics over saving lives. Cuban refugees who make it onto U.S. soil will benefit from the wet-foot/dry-foot policy that other Latino immigrants - a key demographic this cycle - view with considerable hostility. South Florida is already reeling from the domestic economic recession and a new load of low-skilled immigrants will put downward pressures on wages and exclusion will risk increased levels of criminal activity. At a minimum, CNN will be showing pictures of thousands of malnourished and water-logged Cubans being picked up on the high seas and then sent to the notorious U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo, only to be repatriated to a growing catastrophe.

It is now time to lift the embargo, let Cuba buy what it needs and move on. The U.S. policy of isolation to bring about regime change has failed to achieve its goals for fifty years. Fidel has grown old and retired. Cuba is no longer sponsoring revolution overseas but exporting doctors and nurses instead. And by giving Havana a ready-made excuse for economic failure, the embargo has the perverse effect of supporting the Castro regime rather than weakening it.

The Bush administration is between a rock and a hard place. If it continues with business as usual, Havana may very well decide the outcome of the U.S. elections. If it moves to end the embargo and Cuba purchases the supplies it needs to rebuild, it will have prevented the disaster that it foresaw but Cuba will cease to be an electoral goldmine for the GOP.

America needs to put politics aside. It is time to do the right thing. Protect the lives of innocent Cubans, protect our electoral process, end a 50-year-old failed policy, and be good Samaritans after all.