U.S.-Cuba: Is There Room for Two Nationalisms So Close to Each Other? Lecture by Michael E. Parmly

The United States and Cuba have been on parallel tracks for nearly two centuries, where both have long been prime examples of nationalistic identity. To date those identities have been a factor of confrontation, even before the 1959 Cuban Revolution. In this lecture, Michael E. Parmly will argue that the new stage of normalized relations opens a whole new perspective for mutually beneficial economic and societal cooperation. Given the intensity of mutual suspicion over the last 55 years and even the legacy of the preceding decades, getting to that point of entente will not be easy or obvious. According to Parmly, close cooperation in several key areas, where each party has something valuable to bring to the table, such as scientific research, trade promotion, tourism development, and agriculture, will be important ways to "break the ice" and build a stable basis for mutually beneficial cooperation in other areas. Michael E. Parmly is a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer, living outside Geneva, Switzerland. His 33-year diplomatic career took him to both Western and Eastern Europe, North Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean, as well as in senior positions in the U.S. Department of State. Among his last diplomatic postings was serving as Chief of Mission at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, from 2005 to 2008. He received two Masters degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, after completing his B.A. in International Relations and Latin American Studies at Saint Joseph's University.