Talking about leftist regimes in the Arab world is a bit anachronistic. The Arabs have nothing but bitter memories of their socialist past during the Cold War period. The leftist policies and patriotic rhetoric of Egypt’s Nasser, the Baathist regimes in Syria and Iraq, and socialist dictatorships in Algeria, South Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan have brought only economic disasters, military defeats and demoralized populaces.

Continue »

Despite massive urbanization and exodus of people from the countryside to towns, Africa still relies on its farmers and nomadic herders for subsistence. These people, however, are the poorest of the poor and rarely get the financial assistance they need to develop their farms and improve for their lives. They are also losing their farms and grazing land at an alarming rate due to the land grab by greedy real estate companies.

Continue »

Lifting the Cuban travel ban is a commendable step but as I 'advised' President Obama in an earlier post, it's not enough. As Fidel Castro said, Cuba needs more than charity. Lifting the travel ban will no doubt benefit Cuban exiles and their families back home but it would leave the rest of the Cuban people out in the cold.

One can only admire the positive steps that the Obama administration has taken thus far in improving America's image and restoring its status as a responsible global leader. But one wonders why, if Obama's administration can extend a hand in peace to countries that are far and distant, why can't it do a little more for its small neighbor?

Cuba has a highly educated workforce and could prosper with full bilateral ties to America. That's not much to ask from a neighbor that, despite the current economic crisis, often squanders its money on the world's most hopeless areas.

By lifting the travel ban on Cuba, the Obama administration has taken a step in the right direction. But why offer the cake half-baked when they can deliver it fully baked?