Institute for the Study of the Americas

The Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA) is pleased to announce the receipt of a grant from the Christopher Reynolds Foundations for the purpose of organizing and hosting a conference at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the theme, “The United States and Cuba: Rethinking Reengagement.” The conference is conceived around the imperative of advocacy, to advance the logic of a new national debate leading ultimately to the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba. Planned for September 2008, on the eve of national elections in the United States and the fiftieth anniversary of the triumph of the revolution in Cuba, the conference is designed to provide a venue in which to examine the wisdom and contemplate the strategies leading to an improvement of relations between Washington and Havana.

The conference is timed to coincide with the change of administrations in Washington after the November 2008 election and the expectation that a new government–of either party–will offer an opportunity to revive and indeed reinvigorate the debate on U.S. policy toward Cuba. Political change in Washington offers the possibility of policy change toward Cuba. Facets of policy involve a wide range of issues, including travel restrictions; Cuban-American family travel; academic, scholarly, and scientific collaboration; trade and commerce; and eventually the restoration of normal diplomatic relations between both countries.

ISA sponsors the conference mindful of the possibilities of political change in Washington and–in all likelihood–in Havana as a way to promote a convergence of thinking and a coherence of strategies. It is in anticipation of a new presidential administration in Washington that the conference wills to bring to Carolina scholars, advocates, activists, and lobbyists in the United States to discuss the prospects and contemplate the strategies for changing the 50-year old U.S. policy toward Cuba. The invited participants and guests will represent a deep cross-section of the most prominent individuals and the most active organizations currently engaged in advocacy of improved bi-lateral relations. The conference will provide an opportunity for proponents of improved relations to exchange expertise and share experiences, to speak to one another and to address the general public, as a way to reinvigorate a national debate on the Cuba policy of the United States.

Attendance is free and open to the public.