GT+Cotter-Gandhi

Plan:
The United States federal government should normalize its economic relations with Cuba.

Cuban reforms are inevitable but the loss of external investment risks economic and social collapse – offering normal trade relations is vital
Cuba under Raúl Castro has entered a new period of economic, social, and AND -way trade must include both Cuba’s private sector as well as SOEs.
 * Ashby 13,** Senior Research Fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. He served in the U.S. Commerce Department's International Trade Administration as Director of the Office of Mexico and the Caribbean and acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for the Western Hemisphere(Timothy, "Preserving Stability in Cuba After Normalizing Relations with the United States – The Importance of Trading with State-Owned Enterprises" 3/29/13, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, http://www.coha.org/preserving-stability-in-cuba-timothy-ashby/)//AD

Cuban collapse destroys the global war on terror and makes conflicts in hotspots around the globe more likely
¶ Regardless of the succession, under the current U.S. policy, AND in an effort to facilitate a manageable transition to post-Castro Cuba?
 * Gorrell, 5 -** Lieutenant Colonel, US Army, paper submitted for the USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT (Tim, “CUBA: THE NEXT UNANTICIPATED ANTICIPATED STRATEGIC CRISIS?” [] **GWOT=Global War on Terrorism**

Hotspots risk escalation to global nuclear war
Bosco ‘6 - a senior editor at Foreign Policy magazine (David, July, “Forum: Keeping an eye peeled for World War III” []

The understanding that small but violent acts can spark global conflagration is etched into the AND not even a hint that France, Russia or China would respond militarily.

Independently, enforcing the embargo itself undermines the war on terror

 * Johnson, et al, 10** – Andy Johnson is a director in the national security program at The Third Way (“End the Embargo of Cuba”, The National Security Program, 9/6/10, [|http://content.thirdway.org/publications/326/Third_Way_Memo_-_End_the_Embargo_of_Cuba.pdf)//EX]

Keeping the embargo in place requires that the US government devote time and resources to AND in the Western Hemisphere bureau to initiate a new path for engaging Cuba.

Greater focus and resources to counter-terrorism is vital – WMD terrorism risks are increasing ¶ I have been struck by the response to what my liberal friends call President AND , Hezbollah or Iran's Revolutionary Guards will use them when they get them.
 * Clark, 13 -** Bruce Clarke is a retired Army Colonel with extensive strategic, operational and tactical experience. He is widely published on a myriad of strategic and operational subjects. Immediately prior to his retirement from the Army, Colonel Clarke was the Director of US National Security Studies at the US Army War College(Bruce, The Examiner, “ The end to the war on terrorism--really?” 5/28, [])

This risks extinction
Ayson 10 - Professor of Strategic Studies and Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand at the Victoria University of Wellington (Robert, “After a Terrorist Nuclear Attack: Envisaging Catalytic Effects,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 33.7, InformaWorld)//BB

But these two nuclear worlds—a non-state actor nuclear attack and a AND be admitted that any preemption would probably still meet with a devastating response.

The unconditional offer of normal trade relations boosts US-Cuban relations and fosters a stable transition
¶ The option with the greatest possibility of success and reward for the United States AND guides her onto a path that will benefit the nations of the Americas.
 * Koenig, 10** – US Army Colonel, paper submitted for a Masters in Strategic Studies at the US Army War College (Lance, “Time for a New Cuba Policy” [])

The U.S. is trying to rebuild US-Latin American relations but the U.S. focus on Cuban regime change prevents genuine improvement
¶ Today, as we put cursor-to-screen, we were struck AND -cost, low-probability “regime change” solution for Cuba.
 * CDA, 13** - Center for Democracy in the Americas (“News Flash? Has the Administration rediscovered Latin America?” 6/7, [])

The plan sends a clear signal to improve Latin American relations and reinvigorate the OAS
¶ FOR most of our history, the United States assumed that its security was AND cooperating in matters of common concern would be reduced to a historical footnote.
 * White, 13**-Senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and former U.S. ambassador to Paraguay and El Salvador (Robert, “After Chávez, a Chance to Rethink Relations With Cuba”, New York Times, 3/7/13, []

Stronger regionalism is vital to effective democracy promotion

 * Inter-American Dialogue 12 -** the Inter-American Dialogue is the leading US center for policy analysis, exchange, and communication on issues in Western Hemisphere affairs(“Remaking the Relationship The United States and Latin America”, April 2012, http://www.thedialogue.org/PublicationFiles/IAD2012PolicyReportFINAL.pdf)

The democratic outlook in the Americas is on balance positive, particularly when compared with AND US concern about human rights violations, would be an important first step.

Latin American democracy key to global democracy
Hillman, 2 – Ph.D., Professor and Director, Institute for the Study of Democracy and Human Rights, St. John Fisher College (Richard S., Democracy and Human Rights in Latin Americai, Preface, p. vii) //SP Latin American experiences, especially in the areas of democratization and human rights protection AND human rights have definitively entered the political lexicon and discourse throughout the world.

Democracy prevents extinction
¶ This hardly exhausts the lists of threats to our security and well-being AND which a new world order of international security and prosperity can be built.
 * Diamond 95** - Hoover Institute Senior Fellow (Larry, “Promoting Democracy in the 1990s,” http://wwics.si.edu/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/di/fr.htm)

Current Cuba policy wrecks OAS credibility – regional coalitions overtake it
Reuters 12 (Brian Ellsworth, “Despite Obama charm, Americas summit boosts U.S. isolation,” 4/16/12, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/16/us-americas-summit-obama-idUSBRE83F0UD20120416)//SJF

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama sat patiently through diatribes, interruptions and even AND ," said Geoff Thale, program director at the Washington Office on Latin America

Cyber-attack coming in the Western Hemisphere – OAS legitimacy is key to coordination
Caribbean News Now 6/25 (“OAS launches cyber security crisis management exercise,” 6/25/13, http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-OAS-launches-cyber-security-crisis-management-exercise-16500.html)//SJF ¶ WASHINGTON, USA -- The assistant secretary general of the Organization of American States AND and security specialists, among others. The event will conclude on Tuesday.

Cyberattacks cause extinction
Andreasen 6/14 – national security consultant to the Nuclear Threat Initiative and its Nuclear Security Project (Steve, “Cyberwar’s Threat Does Not Justify a New Policy of Nuclear Deterrence,” 6/14/13, http://www.nti.org/analysis/opinions/cyberwars-threat-does-not-justify-new-policy-nuclear-deterrence/)//SJF

President Obama is expected to unveil a new nuclear policy initiative this week in Berlin AND lead to shared approaches to cybersecurity, including agreements related to limiting cyberwar.¶