President Obama’s historic decision to change the United States’ fifty year policy on Cuba has been somewhat clouded over by events in the Middle East and attention to Asia.  However, this new course is extraordinarily important and will affect not only the United States’ relations with Cuba, but also relations among all nations of the hemisphere and the success of non-hemispheric powers seeking to establish themselves in the region.  The new Cuba policy seems to rest on the immediate arguments that Cuba no longer supports terrorists or insurgents, that the new relationship can enhance Cuban lives and lead toward regime change, that American economic interests can benefit, and that cordial external relations between ideologically different regimes can serve global stability.  As we ponder the new path’s implications for the United States, Cuba, the region, and interested outside powers, we are fortunate to be joined by the notable authority, Professor Richard E. Feinberg.

Professor Feinberg has been trained as an international economist (Stanford, Ph.D. in International Economics) and as a historian (Brown University, B.A.).  As a Latin American authority, he has held the prestigious position of book reviewer for the Western Hemisphere in Foreign Affairs Quarterly since 2005.  Early in his career, he was special assistant to President Clinton and Senior Director of Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council.  At the Department of State, he has served on the policy planning staff and was the organizer of the summit of the Americas (which led to his impressive work “Summitry in the Americas”).  He was President of the Inter-American Dialogue and presently is with the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution as a non-resident Senior Fellow.  His scholarship includes over 200 articles and books reflecting his expertise on American foreign policy, international economics, democratization, Latin America, and Cuba in particular.  His course “Cuba: Revolution and Reform” has been a staple of his long teaching career at the University of California, San Diego.  We look forward to a thoughtful and well-grounded treatment of Cuba and the hemisphere today.

It is a great pleasure to welcome Professor Richard E. Feinberg to the Council.