Despite the usual flak from conservative news media, the Democratic Party is starting to find reasons to celebrate. Barack Obama is running a victory lap of sorts as his second term approaches an end, and the party a good chance of retaining the White House after President Obama leaves office. On the other side of the party line, the circus of conservative candidates vying for the presidency is led by a neurosurgeon who is quickly showing that medical acumen does not necessarily translate into political savvy.

Ten years ago, hardly anyone would have been able to predict that a new era of relations between Cuba and the United States would start with Netflix. And yet, last month’s expansion of the American on-demand streaming service into Cuba signified the first step of a brighter future between two old North American rivals. For the better part of the 20th century, the bitterly strained relations between Cuba and the United States constituted the prime regional rivalry in North America. The December 2014 normalization of relations between the two nations looks to usher in a new age of economic and diplomatic prosperity. Despite receiving conservative backlash for his actions, Barack Obama, by reestablishing diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, has taken long overdue steps to bolster a potentially crucial regional ally.

The revenues from Debswana provide 50 percent of all government revenues in Botswana. The case study of the relationship between De Beers and Botswana represents the intermingling of a firm and the state, the combination of economic and political interests, and serves as a modern study of political economy. It also provides an intriguing glimpse into modern imperialism.