September 14, 2015
Dr. Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart with Dr. William Potter
CNS Founding Director William Potter was in Havana, Cuba, in early September 2015 at the invitation of Dr. Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, whom he had met many years ago at a nonproliferation conference in Moscow. He was part of a small MIIS and Middlebury delegation, which also included Dr. Jeffrey Dayton-Johnson (MIIS Vice President for Academic Affairs), Dr. Jeffrey Cason (Dean of International Programs at Middlebury College), and Dr. Anna Vassilieva (Director of the MIIS Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies). The purpose of the visit was to explore various opportunities for student and faculty exchanges and collaboration between CNS/MIIS/MIDD and the Higher Institute of International Relations (ISRI). Dra. Isabel Allende Karam, ISRI Rector, hosted the US delegation.
Dr. Potter gave a talk at ISRI on “The State of Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation,” and engaged in a very lively discussion with Cuban diplomats and scholars about the 2015 NPT Review Conference and recent developments involving the Non-Aligned Movement.
The Cuban hosts were exceptionally gracious, and a number of exciting cooperative activities are likely to follow the initial discussions.
