If you were to ask my mother where she was during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, she could probably tell you her exact location and what she heard on the radio as the historic event unfolded. Twenty-seven years later, with equal certainty, my mother could tell you exactly where she was when she watched on television as the Berlin Wall fell. These seminal events of the Cold War undoubtedly defined our parents’ generation; yet for those of us born during the twilight of the Soviet Union’s existence in the late 1980s, communism seemed less menacing than Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch.

The events of 9/11 have defined our generation’s perspective of security threats, and Osama Bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Saddam Hussein have perceivably played the leading roles. To that end, Fidel Castro’s resignation as President and “Comandante en Jefe” of Cuba last week seems to have signaled less of a change in our alleged security as it did the true end of the Cold War.

I am by no means suggesting that Fidel’s resignation holds menial importance in the state of international affairs. On the contrary, the symbolic shift in power from Fidel to brother Raul formidably ends the chapter in American history inked with rebellions, failed invasions and potential nuclear wars. A thorn in the side of 10 U.S. Presidents, Castro formulated the anti-democratic policy American leaders have so aggressively tried to reverse worldwide, while his gross human rights violations destroyed families domestically and internationally.

The widespread quelling of both political dissent and unauthorized assembly has been a hallmark of Communist Cuba since Castro ousted the Fulgencio Batista government in 1959. According to a 2002 Human Rights Watch report, “Whether detained for political or common crimes, inmates were subjected to abusive prison conditions. Political prisoners who denounced the poor conditions of imprisonment were frequently punished with solitary confinement, restricted visits or denial of medical treatment.” Such actions were propagated by Castro and defined him as an enemy of the state.

Yet by 2008, Castro appears to be more of a relic of the Cold War than anything else. The crux of political debate today has shifted far from communism, and instead focuses on terrorism and religious fundamentalism as the major threats to our national security. Wartime rhetoric has evolved with the most recent political conflict. Moreover, the competition between the two principles of communism or market-based economies has been settled. Even China, the reigning communist outpost, has sublimated its Cold War thinking and embraced leadership in global markets.

And while U.S. foreign policy towards democratization in Cuba and respect of human rights has remained a longstanding concern, the issues in the 2008 presidential election revolve more closely around the War in Iraq, Iranian nuclear weapons and looming terrorist threats from abroad. Such shifts in international discourse reflect the looming curtailment of the communist-fearing ideology. Young voters are more scared of Osama bin Laden than they are of Fidel Castro — a notion which highlights and cements the disconnect between the generational crusades against anti-American ideologies. Of course, the children and grandchildren of Cuban exiles living in the U.S. still retain the anger and tangible loss of their homeland; and perhaps this shift in power will heal some open wounds. Yet on a whole, it seems young Cornellians share a more pressing fear of terrorists infiltrating our water systems than communists infiltrating our government.

With Castro’s resignation signaling the effective end of the communist revolutionaries and Cold War ideology, I wonder what role Cuba will play in future U.S. foreign policy. With young voters showing less attachment to the issue, in what direction will the incoming administration take U.S.- Cuban policy? Lift the embargo? Relieve travel restrictions? The answer is most likely no (and I don’t recommend anyone plan their Spring Break to Cuba this semester).

Many Cuban-Americans have noted that Fidel’s resignation does very little to quash their longstanding resentment, especially with another Castro coming in to fill his place. But perhaps the replacement by a more “pragmatic” leader too signals a shift away from the revolutionary mentality and into a more focused global outlook. The “ism” has since changed and the renegade is another guy with a beard. The Cold War arguably ended in 1991with the collapse of the Soviet Union; perhaps in 2008 the remnants of the Cold War have finally been put to rest.