Past program · September 24, 2026. The original program description is preserved below.
What do Cuba’s economic pressures mean for its people, its politics, and its relationship with the United States? Join Richard Feinberg, one of the foremost authorities on Cuba today, for a serious examination of the forces shaping the island’s choices and the consequences beyond its shores.
Why this conversation matters
Economic pressure is not an abstract policy question for Cuban families. Access to food and medicine, reliable electricity, and opportunities to build a future are bound up with the island’s political and economic choices. Those choices also matter for migration, humanitarian policy, and relations with the United States.
This discussion will examine how domestic decisions, U.S. sanctions, and wider geopolitical calculations interact, and what different political and economic paths could mean. The aim is informed understanding, not easy predictions.
Why hear him
Richard Feinberg, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, University of California, San Diego
UC San Diego
Feinberg brings decades of work in U.S. foreign policy, government, and international political economy. His research has examined Cuba’s economic reforms, foreign investment, and private enterprise. He is the author of Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy.
Read his UC San Diego faculty biographyQuestions the discussion will explore
- Food and medicine shortages, energy constraints, and blackouts
- Domestic politics, economic reform, and possible paths forward
- U.S. sanctions, U.S.–Cuba relations, and geopolitical calculations
- Humanitarian consequences, emigration, and the choices facing families
Presentation followed by Q&A
Bring your questions. The presentation will be followed by an audience Q&A, making room to examine the choices, uncertainties, and consequences raised in the discussion.
