The United States and Cuba Intimate Enemies [Paperback]

A great power and a weaker, rival neighbor can eventually have normal relations. Prior to 1959, Cuba and the United States didnt have a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship, and amid the Cold War, Cubas alliance with the Soviet Union made U.S.-Cuba normality even more elusive. What the United States and Cuba now face is relating to each other as normally as possible, a task made all the more difficult by the shadow of the Cold War. After 1989, regime change returned to the heart of U.S.-Cuba policy, a major obstacle for Washington-Havana dialogue. In turn, Cuban leaders have generally shirked their responsibility to do their part to ease the fifty-year enmity with the United States.

This book systematically covers the background of U.S.-Cuban relations after the Cold War and explores tensions that extend into the twenty-first century. The author explores the future of this strained relationship under Obama's presidency and in a post-Castro Cuba.

1. The United States and Cuba Have Never Had Normal Relations 2. Next Christmas in Havana 3. Half Drunk and Throwing Bottles at Each Other 4. We Need to De-Americanize the Problem of Cuba 5. The Policy Weve Had in Place for 50 Years Hasnt Worked 6. The United States and Cuba: Comparative Reflections (essay by Ana Covarrubias Velasco)

The United States and Cubais a useful addition to the expanding literature on this unique relationship in the Cold Wars aftermath. P?rez-Stable provides important background on the domestic and international pressures on Havana during the period. -Jessica Gibbs, International Affairs, Vol. 88, 4, July 2012

Marifeli P?rez-Stable presents a balanced and judicious explanation of the forces that created and now perpetuate one of our generations most peculiar relationshipsthe existence of Intimate Enemies. - Llók