This week’s burning question comes in via several emails and comments received when we posted our winner of “Best Public Art Display” on Facebook. It featured artwork from Cuba…sent to Laos during the Vietnam War era. What’s the meaning behind these Cuban propaganda art posters that were sent to Laos back in the day? In the aftermath of World War II, the old world order upended and empires fragmented, giving birth to a new era of nationalism and self-determination among the former colonies. Two opposing ideological blocs arose, the First World capitalist NATO countries and the Second World communist Eastern Bloc, competing for global dominance during this Cold War era. Many of the newly independent Third World states (many former colonies of NATO countries) formed their own neutral Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which sought to maintain good relations with both sides (at least on the surface). Overlapping the broader membership of the Non-Aligned Movement, were other factions working to sway members’ support on various issues, such as the African Union, the Arab League, the Afro-Asian People’s …