Cuba S Foreign Policy In The Middle East

In spite of the growing academic interest in Cuba's international relations in the revolutionary period. Cuba's policy toward the Middle East has been a neglected field of study. Although the Middle East has not been a high priority item on Fidel Castro's agenda, various factors have combined to propel the regime into taking a more active stance in the region, not least of which is the importance of the Middle East to the Soviet Union. Some of these factors have been ideological, such as the nature of Castroism itself. Other factors have been more pragmatic: the need to increase Cuba's leverage with the Soviet Union; the desire to establish spheres of interest of its own in the Third World; the attempt to use external politics to soothe internal problems and the wish to maximize the prestige of the Cuban revolution, and, by extension, that of its lider maximo. Since 1959, Havana's Middle Eastern policy has experienced four stages: (1) 1959-1973: Autonomous foreign policy, marked by a dual relationship with both Israel and the Arab states. (2) 1973-1977: Accommodation to the Soviet line; anti-Israeli policy combined with an expansion of relations with progressive states, signalled by the establishment of Cuban military missions. (3) 1977-1980: Activist policy in the region, expanded role and development of diplomatic relationships. (4) 1981 to the present (1985): Cautious involvement; restrained activism, emphasizing socio-economic cooperation. Cuba's incursion into the Arab world illuminates how Cuban foreign policy works, especially in relation to autonomy, convergence, and subordination; dependence, pragmatism, and ideology. The island's entrance into Middle East politics has introduced new risks into the island's foreign policy in return for the benefits which have been derived. A theory to explain Cuba's foreign policy in its interaction with the Soviet Union in the Third World must include heretofore neglected variables: time; regime type; and factionalism (bureaucratic politics), in addition to external events. The study of Cuba's initiatives in the Middle East will serve to test this theory.

Latin American Relations with the Middle East surveys the dealings of ten Latin American and Caribbean states – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela – with the Middle East. This volume examins these states' external behavior at both an empirical and conceptual level. Empirically, authors seek to examine Latin American and Caribbean foreign policies towards the Middle East in four dimensions: diplomatic attention; trade and investment (including the energy issue); development cooperation; security matters/intelligence, and relationship with multilateralism (Iran, Palestine, and Syria). Case studies are selectively deployed to observe the influence of unfavorable circumstances that have increased since 2015, such as domestic turmoil, wars, economic crisis, ideological bias, and international constraints. Conceptually, the book enhances the theoretical framework for understanding Southern countries’ foreign policies, through fomenting dialogue with Latin American and Caribbean regional literature on foreign policy. Authors inquire about how decision-making processes occur, and uncover how influential actors help to test the main hypotheses of Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). Forging essential new paths of inquiry, this book is a must read for researchers of International Relations, Foreign Policy, South-South Relations, Latin American Politics, and Middle Eastern Politics.

This volume illustrates the sweeping changes in Cuban foreign policy under Raúl Castro. Leading scholars from around the world show how the significant shift in foreign policy direction that started in 1990 after the implosion of the Soviet Union has continued, in many ways taking totally unexpected paths—as is shown by the move toward the normalization of relations with Washington. Providing a systematic overview of Cuba’s relations with the United States, Latin America, Russia, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, this book will be invaluable for courses on contemporary Cuba.

An essential and concise introduction to postwar US foreign policy. It explores the key questions of who makes policy, why, in what style or tradition, under what kinds of democratic controls and in what kind of international environment.