Hare: New Revolutions in Cuba and U.S.
Paul Webster Hare, visiting lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, said that both Cuba and the United States will undergo revolutions in thinking and policy as they establish closer diplomatic ties.
Hare made his case in a Jan. 22 opinion piece on the Huffington Post entitled, “The Cuban and U.S. Revolutions: A New World Series?”
In the piece, Hare states:
“This week, Roberta Jacobson and her U.S. team will be getting to know senior Cuban officials. But they will already know that they are dealing with a very foreign country. The Cuban revolution was a real revolution. It challenged directly many of the founding principles of the U.S. revolution — frequent (and expensive) elections, separation of powers, devolving responsibilities to states, sanctity of private property and putting your faith in the wealth creation of people making their own money.
“The U.S. revolution also produced a powerful country that veered from periods of isolationism to a fervent proselytizing of its virtues. Cuba, a small communist neighbor, became a U.S. obsession and Fidel skillfully developed the role of the heroic resistor. The U.S. revolution also developed a government capable of relentless renovation and self criticism. That has led to President Obama’s reassessment.”
You can read the entire piece here.
Ambassador Paul Webster Hare was the British ambassador to Cuba from 2001-04.
Hare graduated with First Class Honors in Politics and Economics from Oxford University in 1972 and from the College of Law in London in 1976. He worked for 5 years in the private sector, in law and investment banking, before serving for 30 years in the British Diplomatic Service. Hare served overseas in Portugal, New York, at the UK Representation at the EU in Brussels, and in Venezuela as Deputy Head of Mission. He was Head of the Foreign Office’s Non-Proliferation Department and the first Project Director for the UK’s presence at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.