Cuban Foreign Policy

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.

The twentieth-century history of Cuba borders on fantasy. This diminutive country boldly and repeatedly exercises the foreign policy of a major power. Although closely tied to the United States through most of its modern history, Cuba successfully defied the U.S. government after 1959, consolidated its own power, and defeated an invasion of U.S.-backed exiles at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Fidel Castro then brought the world alarmingly close to nuclear war in 1962. Jorge Domínguez presents a comprehensive survey of Cuban international relations since Castro came to power. Domínguez unravels Cuba's response to the 1962 missile crisis and the U.S.-Soviet understandings that emerged from that. He explores the ties that link Cuba to the U.S.S.R. and other Communist countries; analyzes Cuban support for revolutionary movements throughout the world, especially in Latin America and Africa; and assesses the significance of Cuban political and economic relations with Western Europe, Canada, and Japan. Some have charged that Cuba does not have a foreign policy, that Fidel Castro merely takes orders from his Soviet bosses. Domínguez argues that there is indeed a specifically Cuban foreign policy, poised not only between hegemony and autonomy, between compliance and self-assertion, but also between militancy and pragmatism. He believes that within the context of Soviet hegemony Cuba's foreign policy is very much its own, and he marshals impressive evidence to support this belief. His book is based on extensive documentation from Cuba, the United States, and other countries, as well as from many in-depth interviews carried out during trips to Cuba.

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.

From its inception, Fidel Castro's revolution has exerted an impact on the international scene far out of proportion to Cuba's modest size and limited resources. This phenomenon became more pronounced in the mid-1970s as Havana's foreign policies took on truly global parameters that involved the dispatch of large combat forces to Angola and Ethiopia, the initiation of ambitious military and developmental aid programs for Third World nations, and the assumption of leadership of the Nonaligned Movement. Today Cuba remains a significant actor on the world scene, giving top priority to Caribbean and Central American affairs. Critics, especially in the United States, have insisted that Cuban globalism is not a nationalist expression, that Cuba is but a surrogate for the Soviet Union. Such charges, however, ignore or seriously underestimate the role that nationalism has always played in the Cuban Revolution. This book explores the nature and development of Castro's foreign relations in general and Cuban globalism in particular, with primary attention devoted to nationalism's influence on Havana's policies toward the United States, the Soviet Union, and especially the developing (mostly nonaligned) African, Asian, and Latin countries of the Third World. To give the reader an in-depth Cuban perspective on crucial international issues, excerpts from Castro's major speeches and press interviews are included. Erisman concludes that the nationalistic dimension of Havana's foreign policies has definitely not been fully appreciated, and this omission obscures the complexity and true essence of Cuban globalism.

This volume emphasizes two key aspects of Cuba's foreign relations: the country's adjustment since the disintegration of the Soviet Bloc, and the ongoing confrontation between Cuba and the United States. The author proposes that Cuba has been highly sensitive to independence on an external power.

Cuban International Relations at 60 brings together the perspectives of leading experts and the personal accounts of two ambassadors to examine Cuba’s global engagement and foreign policy since January 1959 by focusing on the island’s key international relationships and issues. Thisbook’s first section focuseson Havana’s complex relationship with Washington and its second section concentrates on Cuba’s other key relationships with consideration also being given to Cuba's external trade and investment sectors and the possibility of the island becoming a future petro-power. Throughout this study due attention is given to the role of history and Cuban nationalism in the formation of the island’s unique foreign policy. This book’s examination and reflection on Cuba as an actor on the international arena for the 60 years of the revolutionary period highlights the multifaceted and complex reasons for the island’s global engagement. It concludes that Cuba’s global presence since January 1959 has been remarkable for a Caribbean island, is unparalleled, and is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Scholars of international relations, Latin American studies, and political science n will find this book particularly interesting.

This engaging book explores one of the most important hemispheric issues of the day - the evolving relations between Cuba and its North American neighbors. The authors identify the commonalities and differences in contemporary international relations between Cuba and the United States and Cuba and Canada, discuss the differing approaches toward the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro, and debate Canadian responses toward anti-Castro initiatives taken by the United States. They also examine the shift in North American policies directed toward the reintegration of Cuba into the global system - and the degree to which Canadian policy is influenced by the United States in this regard. The final chapter of the book predicts a likely scenario for the future of Cuba-United States and Cuba-Canada relations.