Email this article 
US-CUBA RELATIONS: A NEW WAVE OF CONFRONTATION?
- Authors: Pérez Benitez S1, Eremin AA2
-
Affiliations:
- Center for International Political Studies, Havana, Cuba
- RUDN-University (Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia), Moscow, Russia
- Issue: Vol 17, No 3 (2017): ASEAN and Inter-Regional Cooperation in Asia
- Pages: 568-574
- Section: BILATERIAL RELATIONS
- URL: https://journals.rudn.ru/international-relations/article/view/16768
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2017-17-3-568-574
Cite item
Full Text
Abstract
The article seeks to analyze the role of the changes introduced by the administration of the former president Barack Obama in 2014-2016 into the bilateral US-Cuba relations; and the way in which the new presidential team are to reorganize this direction. The question on the attitude of Donald Trump towards currently existing policies aimed at solving the long-lasting problem with Cuban socialism is especially interesting since new US president has multiple times condemned the old ways practiced by the former establishment, but at the same time has shown readiness to act in a straight-forward and confrontational manner. One of contributors of the paper, Santiago Perez Benitez, deputy director of the Center for International Political Studies in Havana, is attempting to provide his professional expertise in granting an insider view from the Cuban side, evaluating the progress made since the 2014 and interpret the notion of the upcoming policy changes in Washington. The importance of the Cuban issue in the framework of US. policy in the Western hemisphere is explained by the fact that a solution in this sphere could help remake a negative image of Pan-American policies that haunts Washington. Cuban issue has also been long considered a possible key for reestablish-ment of trust between the United States and Latin American countries. For president Trump, quite unpopular judging by the polls, Cuban issue also has a potential to earn support of his own constituents, who strongly support lifting the embargo from Cuba. However now after certain decisions of Donald Trump the future of US-Cuban relations seems to get gloomier by the day.
Keywords
About the authors
S Pérez Benitez
Center for International Political Studies, Havana, Cuba
Email: stgo1perezbenitez@gmail.com
Deputy Director of the Center of International Studies in Havana, Cuba
A A Eremin
RUDN-University (Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia), Moscow, Russia
Email: 79151775018@yandex.ru
assistant at the department of Theory and History of International Relations of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)
References
- Badella, A. (2015). Obama and US Democracy Promotion in Cuba: New Strategies, Old Goals? Caribbean Journal of International Relations & Diplomacy, 3 (2), 7-35.
- Borodaev, V.A. (1998). Cuba: Look Before Leaping. International Affairs, 44 (5), 66-70.
- Campos, C.O. & Prevost, G. (2016). Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed? Inter¬national Journal of Cuban Studies, 8 (2), 142-163. doi: 10.13169/intejcubastud.7.2.0142.
- Hershberg, E. (2016). Introduction: US-Cuba Diplomatic Rapprochement and Washington’s Relations with Latin America. In: A New Chapter in US-Cuba Relations. NY: Palgrave McMillan, p. 1-13.
- Isacson, A. & Kinosain, S. (2016). U.S. Policy Toward Cuba: Is the U.S. Embargo Coming to an End? Washington Office on Latin America. URL: https://www.wola.org/analysis/u-s-policy-toward-cuba-u-s-embargo-coming-end (accessed 15.05.2017).
- Lancinski, P. (2015). Normalization of US-Cuban Relations: Obama Doctrine and International Security in the Western Hemisphere. Securitologia, 22 (2): 5-16; doi: 10.5604/18984509.1203722.
- Leger, T. & Tzili, E. (2016). Cuba, la proliferación institucional y el futuro de la política hemisférica. Anuario de Integración, edicion especial, 367-381.
- Leiva, M.A. (2015). View from Havana on Cuban-U.S. Relations. Washington D.C.: Huffington Post.
- Leogrande, W.M. (2015). Normalizing US-Cuba relations: escaping the shackles of the past. Inter¬national Affairs, 91 (3), 473-488.
- Lopez-Levi, A. (2016). Cuba-US: The December 17 Agreement in the Rationale of Asymmetric Relations. In: A New Chapter in US-Cuba Relations. Ed. by E. Hershberg, W.M. LeoGrande. New York: Palgrave McMillan, p. 27-40.
- Mayer, M. (2017). Migration and Border Security under the Trump Administration. Washington Office on Latin America. URL: https://www.wola.org/analysis/migration-border-security-trump-administration (accessed 11.05.2017).
- Morris, E. (2016). How Will US-Cuban Normalization Affect Economic Policy in Cuba? In: A New Chapter in US-Cuba Relations. Ed. by E. Hershberg, W.M. LeoGrande. New York: Palgrave McMillan, p. 115-127.
- Serbin, A. (2016). Onstage or Backstage? Latin America and US-Cuban Relations. In: A New Chapter in US-Cuba Relations. NY: Palgrave McMillan, p. 179-189.
- Shifter, M. (2016). The US-Cuba Thaw and Hemispheric Relations. Current history, 115 (778), 75-76.
- Whitefield, M. (2016). Obama moves to make Cuba policies ‘irreversible’. Miami Herald. URL: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article108195527.html (accessed 12.05.2017).
- Zanona M. (2016). Trump and Cuba: A murky future. The Hill. URL: http://thehill.com/policy/ transportation/308007-trump-and-cuba-a-murky-future (accessed 03.06.2017).
