Looking Forward: Comparative Perspectives on Cuba's Transition

In Looking Forward, Marifeli Perez-Stable and her colleagues imagine Cuba's future after the "poof moment"―Jorge I. Domínguez's vivid phrase―when the current regime will no longer exist. Written in an accessible style that will appeal to all interested readers, this volume does not try to predict how and when the Castro regime will end, but instead considers the possible consequences of change. Each chapter―prepared by an expert in the field―takes up a basic issue: politics, the military, the legal system, civil society, gender, race, economic transition strategies, social policy and social welfare, corruption, the diaspora, memory, ideology and culture, and U.S.-Cuba relations.

The author of each chapter considers three questions: How have other new democracies handled the basic issue in question? How might Cuba's unique conditions affect this area in transition? What are the likely outcomes and alternatives for a Cuba in transition? Designed with students, policy-makers, and journalists in mind, this lively and accessible volume is an essential resource.

Marifeli Pérez-Stable is vice president for democratic governance at Inter-American Dialogue and professor of sociology at Florida International University. She is author and editor of a number of books, including The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy.