MIAMI — A post-Fidel Castro Cuba, led by Fidel’s younger brother Raúl, appears poised to open itself up to limited foreign investment under the close supervision of the communist island’s military, which controls much of the economy, according to experts. The island nation’s energy resources hold particular economic potential. During the last 19 months, in which Raúl Castro has acted as Cuba’s “interim leader,” little has changed for average Cubans, who continue to face shortages of food and basic necessities. However, the 76-year-old brother of Cuba’s long-time “Commandante” has sought new deals with resort developers from Canada and Europe in [...]
I didn’t find much to disagree with in Dan Drezner’s Newsweek corrective reminding folks that reports of America’s demise have been greatly exagerrated. Drezner concurs that in relative terms, America is certainly in decline. Part of that is the short term effects of the Bush administration’s various misadventures, and part of it due to the rapid rise of what Parag Khanna calls the Second World (and what others refer to as the BRIC’s: Brazil, Russia, India and China). Drezner makes some good points about the resilience of American markets, as well as the structural realities that make them the global [...]
Reuters reports on the Pentagon’s announcementthat it successfully intercepted a failing spy satellite last night.There’s no confirmation on whether its toxic fuel tank was destroyed,although an explosion upon the intercepting missile’s impact indicatesthat it was. Also no word yet on the eventual groundfall of thematerial debris. Danger Room’s Noah Shachtman has got a great rundown of the technical challengesof the operation, including the eyebrow-raising tidbit that the finalcommand for the intercept launch was given by Bob Gates himself. Talkabout a high-voltage video gaming experience. WPR has been all over this story, with a solid piece on the diplomatic context of [...]
