Obama Proposes New Cuba Policy Before Exiles

Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama further elaborated on his "accidental foreign policy" agenda Friday in a speech before the Cuban American National Foundation, the Cuban exile group that historically has been a bastion of hard-line anti-Castro sentiment. In his remarks, Obama called for a "new strategy" towards Cuba and other Latin American nations and contrasted his position with those of ...

Kosovo and the Clash of Civilizations

Richard Fernandez argues that the rioting by Kosovar Serbs was entirely predictable: The wider impact of the Kosovo crisis is the precedent that it sets for many of the "frozen conflicts" of the world, ranging from Azerbaijan to the Basque region. Remarkably, many Muslim countries have refused to recognize Kosovo. And their reluctance is fueled in part by the desire ...

McCain Declares Cuba Policy a Success

Senator John McCain declared our policy of containment towards Cuba a success and declared his support for an independent Kosovo in a conference call with bloggers this afternoon. He made some opening remarks focusing on foreign policy before taking questions and I had the opportunity to ask him to expand his thoughts. He challenged Barack Obama's statement in last ...

Bush Rules Out Quick Cuba Policy Change

Fidel Casto may have stepped down but the embargo aimed at his ouster is staying put. The Bush administration is ruling out any changes in its Cuba policy — including lifting a five-decade trade embargo — after Fidel Castro's resignation, deriding his brother and heir apparent, Raul, as "dictator lite." [...] "They're the ones who suffered under Fidel Castro," Bush told a ...

Fidel Castro Retires

Fidel Castro has finally resigned the presidency of Cuba. Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country as president or commander-in-chief, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution. Castro, 81, who has not appeared in public for almost 19 months after undergoing stomach surgery, ...

Obama Che Guevara Flag ‘Scandal’

The blogosphere is roiled up over the flag issue again. No, not that flag. This one: That's the Cuban flag with the image of Ernesto Che Guevara superimposed on it. It's tacked onto the wall of an office in Barack Obama's Houston campaign headquarters. An office belonging, apparently, to a low level staffer who's in charge of ...

Castro Well Enough to be a Candidate

Via the BBC: Castro 'well enough for election'The health of Cuban President Fidel Castro is good enough for him to be a candidate in next month's parliamentary elections, his brother Raul has said. Which raises the question: apart from breathing, how healthy is "enough" to run, given that he won't have to campaign or do much of anything else? We ...

Fidel Castro Dead or Alive

Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is dead. Unless he's not. Val Prieto had a flurry of updates yesterday reporting Castro's death, with imminent announcements expected. Half the political blogosphere linked the post and his server couldn't handle the strain. In a Communist plot, no announcement was forthcoming. Meanwhile, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton got into the act with ...

YouTube Debate

I was apparently the only political blogger who didn't watch the YouTube debates last night. My conscience is clear, though, in that I'm exceedingly unlikely to vote in the Democratic primaries, Virginia doesn't hold primaries for six and a half months (February 12), transcripts would be available online in short order, and I found the whole "have journalists choose ...

Failed States Index 2007

Foreign Policy has published the latest edition of The Failed States Index 2007. It is not a cause for celebration: Few encouraging signs emerged in 2006 to suggest the world is on a path to greater peace and stability. The year began with violent protests that erupted from Indonesia to Nigeria over the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet ...