Can I tell you how happy this makes me?
Cuba’s blue, red and white-starred flag was hoisted Monday at the country’s embassy in Washington in a symbolic move signaling the start of a new post-Cold War era in U.S.-Cuba relations.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez presided over the flag-raising ceremony hours after full diplomatic relations with the United States were restored at the stroke of midnight, when an agreement to resume normal ties on July 20 took effect. Earlier, without ceremony, the Cuban flag was hung in the lobby of the State Department alongside those of other countries with which the U.S. has diplomatic ties. U.S. and Cuban diplomats in Washington and Havana had also noted the upgrade in social media posts.
It feels miraculous.
I suspect that link is not the page you’re looking for…
thanks, fixed.
And the UN Security Council voted unanimously (that includes the US for a change) to approve the P5+1 agreement with Iran on its nuclear program.
That allows the IAEA and Iran to begin the steps to dismantling and certification.
At that point all countries not the US have the freedom to end sanctions on Iran.
At which point, US business can be left out in the cold or not.
This deal just made the blowhards irrelevant until January of 2017, which is 18 long months away. Diplomatic realities can change rapidly in 18 months. I’m still holding out hope for normalization of relations by then.
And more hopeful about some resolution in Syraqistan. Keeping an eye on how the Kurds are moving. It is the areas between Aleppo and Kobane that are the remaining open border (with Turkey) areas in ISIS control.
Like the Reagan second term, foreign policy might turn out to be Obama’s major accomplishment. I think the screeching from the right might reflect that the neocon world is rapidly disappearing before their eyes.
Rapprochement with Russia and China are two biggies (aside from Europe’s dissolution), and all three like the rest of the world are economic basket cases as a result of austerity economics.
But this is great for baseball.
…and classic cars
I’m not a big Tyler Durden fan, but I found the assemblage of news items interesting.
Obama’s Goals For Middle East Hinge On Putin
Of course, Putin and Lavrov have been the key to resolving Syria for some time (at least before Nuland and Pyatt tossed in the Ukrainian monkey wrench). It was Putin and Lavrov who facilitated removing chemical weapons from Syria.
Durden is of the opinion that Kerry is making headway in convincing Obama that not all competitors are proto-enemies as our current national security establishment would have it. With the Iran deal in hand, that position has greater credibility against the competing voices.
If the information about the Saudis is correct, Obama might have found a way to ease Saudi-Iranian tensions. But Yemen is still a mess and Bahrain is a potential source of conflict.
Still there are 18 months left to accomplish foreign policy goals as there is less that can be done domestically without Congress. And Republican obstruction will continue.
Today Cuba..
within the next 6 months…Iran..
One hopes. And then North Korea (the tough one).
What conservatives don’t realize is that embassies typically include a CIA station. When intelligence and ambassadors work well for their own nation, they can prevent serious misunderstandings that can lead to war.
The current political players seem hidebound on creating additional serious misunderstandings through outright lies instead of easing foreign relations. That is a high-cost policy that has economic benefits for their patrons.