Center for International Policy

From KeyWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Center for international policy.jpg

The Center for International Policy, based in Washington, D.C. is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies in the mid-1970s and operating under the tax-exempt aegis of the Fund for Peace. CIP's bias was shown in its 1976 statement showing its opposition to all U.S.-supported opposition to Soviet aggression.[1] The Center is affiliated with United for Peace and Justice.[2]

Matthew Hoh Connection

Matthew Hoh, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy, was a signatory of a letter titled Open Letter to US Congressional Representatives marking our opposition to the US Innovation and Competition Act (USICA)/ COMPETES Act dated January 25, 2022 spearheaded by the Democratic Socialists of America International Committee.[3]

About

As at March, 1982, one-half of CIP's 1982 $220,000 budget is derived from a $100,000 grant from the Reynolds Foundation and targeted to its Indochina Project, a successor to the former Indochina Resource Center which dissolved at the time Vietnamese spy David Truong was arrested. The project is completing a study of "yellow rain"-Soviet nerve gas supplied to Vietnamese forces and used in Cambodia. CIP has argued that a lack of U.S. recognition and aid to Vietnam, Laos and Vietnam-occupied Cambodia is "pushing these countries into the arms of the Soviet Union."[1]

Mission

CIP's goal, according to the Zill report, is

"to heal the wounds of war and to develop greater understanding between the U.S. and Southeast Asia; to promote an end to the economic embargo; and to work toward diplomatic recognition."[1]

Cuba trip

In January 1997 a four-day trip to Cuba was sponsored by the Washington-based Center for International Policy, which used more than $12,000 in MacArthur Foundation funds to take staffers of key Senate and House members on a mission aimed at educating Congress on the need for more dialogue with Cuba, said executive-director Bill Goodfellow.

"People on the Hill, you know, are afraid to say anything because they fear the political power of the Miami Cubans, particularly the Cuban American National Foundation, Goodfellow said.

"We are hardly enamored of the Castro government, he said. ``But we believe that we need political space, a soft landing and to have an easy transition you need to begin a dialogue and to educate people.

During the trip-which included Dick Day, a senior immigration committee adviser to Wisconsin Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican-congressional staff members met with Castro. Goodfellow called Castro ``a charmer, but I think all of them came away realizing what a joke the Cubans claim of having their own brand of democracy. [4]

"Questions of Racial Identity, Racism, and Anti-Racist Policies in Cuba Today"

June 2011, Elizabeth Newhouse summarizes an all-day conference hosted by CIP that explored the notion and implications of racism and racial identity in Cuba as the Afro-Cuban population struggles with widespread discrimination. When Castro seized power in 1959, he declared Cuba a "raceless" society under the Communist project; however, socioeconomic disparities on racial lines remain clear. Once considered taboo, discussions on race are becoming more prevalent in Cuba with the creation of National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) "Cuban Color" working groups and other race-related government organizations committed to dismantling barriers.

"The United States and Cuba share a common challenge. Both have black minority populations and thus residual traces of racism; both must focus on how to eliminate these inconsistencies," said Wayne Smith, director of the Cuba Project at the Center for International Policy.

To Smith, the conference's primary goal was to understand "how the Cubans are approaching the problem, with some commentary on its approach from the American perspective." The participants discussed the implications of race on the Cuban nation, Afro-Cuban initiatives striving for racial equality, and the effect on these issues on U.S.-Cuban relations.

Conference panelists included Wayne Smith; James Early, Smithsonian Center of Folklife and Cultural Heritage; Esteban Morales, Center for the Study of U.S.-Cuban Relations; Heriberto Feraudy, Cuban Commission against Racism; Julia Sweig, Council on Foreign Relations; and Philip Brenner, American University. Emira Woods of the Institute of Policy Studies, Mwiza Munthali of TransAfrica Forum, and Sarah Stephens of the Center for Democracy in the Americas moderated the panels.

Esteban Morales underscored the importance of race in today’s political discourse: "The topic of race is intimately connected with others, such as the economy, human rights, inequality and social justice. Avoiding the topic for so long has been a serious risk for the solid unity of the Cuban nation because national unity must be achieved by the construction of consensus among civil society."

By addressing these issues at the conference, James Early believes that the conference ultimately "supports the positive efforts of the Cuban people and the government to advance the interrelated goals of social equality, political and cultural democracy, and economic development.[5]

Personnel

Staff

The following were staff of the Center as at 1976:[1]

Consultants

As at 1976, CIP's consultants included:[1]

1980 Board of Advisors

Board of Advisors

Board of Advisors

Among CIP's board of advisers were many former officials who subsequently supported the SALT II treaty and the Nuclear Freeze. As at March, 1982, the CIP advisers included:[1]

Call on Congress to End Travel Restrictions to Cuba

On February 8, 2002, the Center for International Policy issued a press release entitled "On Eve of Senate Hearing 50 Prominent Groups and Individuals Call on Congress to End Travel Restrictions to Cuba". Wayne Smith and Anya Landau were listed as contact persons at the bottom of the release.

The release read in part,

"We the undersigned urge the United States Congress to enact legislation to remove all controls on travel to Cuba. Under our democratic system, Americans have a constitutional right to travel where they wish. Not only is it their right, but it is also an article of faith that their travel helps to carry abroad American values and spread the message of our democracy. In the case of Cuba, however, the U.S. Government puts all that aside and opts instead for the kind of travel controls usually imposed by authoritarian governments. These controls ignore international standards of freedom of movement (exactly what we accuse the Cuban government of doing). They violate Article 12 of the United Nation’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And even under U.S. law, the legal bases for the controls strain credulity."

The following were signatories to the release:[7]

External links

References

Template:Reflist

  1. ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The War Called Peace: Glossary, published 1982
  2. ↑ Affiliates
  3. ↑ Open Letter to US Congressional Representatives marking our opposition to the US Innovation and Competition Act (USICA)/ COMPETES Act (accessed March 29, 2024)
  4. ↑ The Miami Herald January 14, 1997, Congressional travelers are attracted to Cuba, CAROL ROSENBERG
  5. ↑ CIP, Questions of Racial Identity, Racism, and Anti-Racist Policies in Cuba Today June 27, 2011 | Conference ReportBy Elizabeth Newhouse
  6. ↑ Center for International Policy letterhead, April 11, 1980
  7. ↑ Foros website: "On Eve of Senate Hearing 50 Prominent Groups and Individuals Call on Congress to End Travel Restrictions to Cuba", May 25, 2002 (accessed on Nov. 17, 2010)
Retrieved from "https://keywiki.org/index.php?title=Center_for_International_Policy&oldid=636255"