“The time is ripe for change in Cuba.” Many have made this claim before, and many have been dead wrong. Indeed, the Cuban Castro regime, having survived to see ten U.S. presidents come and go, outlasted an embargo for over fifty years while maintaining its communist-authoritarian integrity. His rule has inspired, as of late, a spate of rather pessimistic literature. There is great doubt as to the ability of a democratic movement to come about in...
...vel to and from the island for Cuban-Americans. An estimated 400,000 people made the trip that year. When visiting relatives, visitors also bring food, gifts and cash, fueling a bustling black market. Even though the US trade embargo is still in full force, both the Bush and Obama administrations have made overtures indicating the eventual loosening of restrictions. On the other hand, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is openly o...
...n rebels—the Transitional National Council based in Benghazi—seeking to overthrow current Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and pro-Qaddafi forces. The seeds of Turkey’s friendly ties with Libya were sown during a US arms embargo following Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974, when Libya provided Turkey with spare parts to operate US-made jets. Since then, Turkish builders have become a mainstay of foreign business in Libya, despite an influx...
...ing the many possible reactions from the West. What I found, however, were not flared passions or irate diplomats, but a general indifference to Iran’s gimmick and an assurance from British and French spokespeople that Iran’s embargo will have no practical ramification on the price of oil in Europe. It would therefore seem that this maneuver was symbolic more than anything else – another severing of ties between Iran and the global community in t...
...program. The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 – which expanded the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 – and similar pieces of American and international legislation, have combined a trade embargo with targeted financial sanctions to increase the cost of Iran’s non-cooperation. The United States has successfully lobbied the European Union, Japan, and other key nations to reduce their reliance on Iranian oil, t...
...dly, Western leaders simultaneously talk of “engagement” while calling for “crippling sanctions.” UN sanctions are limited to nuclear related materials and technology, while the US and the EU have imposed near total economic embargos on the country. Despite their internecine nature – some estimates pin the price of the Iranian oil embargo at up to 25 cents a gallon at the pump – the sanctions endure, with a new batch due to start in July. In the...
...he resentment that many light-skinned Arabs have toward dark-skinned non-Arabs as a result of Qaddafi’s strategic moves. When Qaddafi failed to gather support from other Arab nations in the aftermath of a 1992 United Nations embargo against Libya, his shift from the Arab world to the African continent was all but complete, just as the mounting frustration of Libyans directed towards him reached its pinnacle. Libyans responded to Qaddafi’s reorie...
...” website has been established, as has a “Dean Independents” website. Of course, Dean can still fall prey to the same mistakes McGovern made. Many have recently attacked him for changing his positions on issues like the Cuban embargo, the death penalty, and Social Security, and for mincing words over the Confederate Flag. These are potentially damaging charges. If Dean is perceived as someone willing to flip his policies for political gain, he wi...
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