While the right continues to believe that isolation will force out the Castros, the left is worried that capitalism will transform the system by other means. Cuba is like a vast undervalued neighborhood outside of Miami that's ripe for gentrification, and capitalism abhors such a vacuum. Some in the Cuban government fear that the proffered carrot has been poisoned; others are hoping to get a nibble for themselves. Cuba stands at a historic crossroads. Down one path lies strict adherence to the revolutionary legacy of the Castros. Down another path lies a revival of Cuba as a playground of rich moguls and shadowy criminal types, as it was just before the revolution. Are there any other paths that Cuba can take?

Obama told Cubans, “We are interested in seeing Cuba succeed.” But success on whose terms?

The government's refusal to loosen the reins of control and welcome both bottom-up entrepreneurialism and foreign investment in "sensitive" areas prevents service industries from flourishing.

Fat Cats, Members of the 1 Percent, the Filthy Rich: Just kidding..... I come in peace and I come with a proposal -- an investment proposal and a course correction -- to restore and secure this great country going forward. You, America's wealthy class, are key to the American Renaissance.

Small countries often have no choice but to align themselves with larger economic entities, as for instance the Baltic countries have done inside the European Union. But Poland is not a small country. It is the sixth largest EU country by population, and the largest country in East-Central Europe (twice the size of its nearest competitor, Romania).

Central Europe had been kidnapped, the Czech writer Milan Kundera once wrote in a celebrated essay from 1984. It had been dragged eastward by the Soviet Union after World War II. And like a displaced person yearning to return home, the region couldn't wait until it could rejoin Europe.