By Ben Katcher

This is a guest note by British Ambassador to Cuba Dianna Melrose.

As part of the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program‘s new media roundtable series, I am hosting a small roundtable discussion today with British Council CEO Martin Davidson and British Council Board Member and communications expert Raoul Shah. The event will run from 3pm to 4pm EST and will stream live here at The Washington Note….

(Photo credit: The White House) Patrick Doherty directs the New America Foundation/U.S.-Cuba 21st Century Policy Initiative. Yesterday, three significant statements were made regarding the United States’ policy towards Cuba. President Barack Obama, responding to dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, signaled to Congress and Havana his willingness to break the stalemate on Cuba policy.

Europe is correct to be skeptical of Turkey’s European Union accession prospects – but Brussels should be wary not because Turkey is not “part of Europe,” but because its democracy remains fragile and its liberalism incomplete. The most obvious evidence of Turkey’s uneven progress is the ongoing Ergenekon investigation that continues to roil the country….

In an apparent effort to dumb down the concept of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) for its readership, The Economist developed what it calls the “Big Mac Index.

This is a guest note by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett. Flynt directs the New America Foundation/Iran Project and is a former Senior Director of Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council. Hillary is chairman of Stratega, a political risk consultancy. They are co-publishers of the new blog, The Race for Iran.

I can’t see this flag from my hotel window, but I could see it from the balcony of the Merit Hotel in Nicosia, Cyprus, where I attended a briefing today with Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu. The Turkish Cypriot national flag is embedded in the “five finger mountains” of Northern Cyprus.

What can the United States offer its allies? Throughout the Cold War, the answer was simple: the United States guaranteed its allies security from the Soviet Union. But this question – which seems so basic – is difficult to answer today.

Jon Weinberg is a research intern at the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force.

Jon Weinberg is a research intern at the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force. Last week, Zalmay Khalilzad, former US Ambassador to the UN, and Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) spoke at RAND’s “Afghanistan: Basic Questions–Strategy Choices” conference. Both emphasized that key strategic choices must be considered before a decision on troops is made.