In Looking Forward, Marifeli Perez-Stable and her colleagues imagine Cuba's future after the "poof moment"-Jorge I. Dominguez's vivid phrase-when the current regime will no longer exist. Written in an accessible style that will appeal to all interested readers, this volume does not try to predict how and when the Castro regime will end, but instead considers the possible consequences of change. Each chapter-prepared by an expert in the field-takes up a basic issue: politics, the military, the legal system, civil society, gender, race, economic transition strategies, social policy and social welfare, corruption, the diaspora, memory, ideology and culture, and U.S.-Cuba relations. The author of each chapter considers three questions: How have other new democracies handled the basic issue in question? How might Cuba's unique conditions affect this area in transition? What are the likely outcomes and alternatives for a Cuba in transition? Designed with students, policy-makers, and journalists in mind, this lively and accessible volume is an essential resource.

A great power and a weaker, rival neighbor can eventually have normal relations. Prior to 1959, Cuba and the United States didn't have a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship, and amid the Cold War, Cuba's 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.

A great power and a weaker, rival neighbor can eventually have normal relations. Prior to 1959, Cuba and the United States didn't have a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship, and amid the Cold War, Cuba's 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.

In Looking Forward, Marifeli Perez-Stable and her colleagues imagine Cuba's future after the "poof moment"-Jorge I. Dominguez's vivid phrase-when the current regime will no longer exist. Written in an accessible style that will appeal to all interested readers, this volume does not try to predict how and when the Castro regime will end, but instead considers the possible consequences of change. Each chapter-prepared by an expert in the field-takes up a basic issue: politics, the military, the legal system, civil society, gender, race, economic transition strategies, social policy and social welfare, corruption, the diaspora, memory, ideology and culture, and U.S.-Cuba relations. The author of each chapter considers three questions: How have other new democracies handled the basic issue in question? How might Cuba's unique conditions affect this area in transition? What are the likely outcomes and alternatives for a Cuba in transition? Designed with students, policy-makers, and journalists in mind, this lively and accessible volume is an essential resource.

This timely and provocative study provides a reexamination of the Cuban revolution and places it firmly in a historical context. Beginning with the inauguration of the republic in 1902 and addressing Castro's triumphant entry into Santiago de Cuba in 1959, The Cuban Revolution highlights the factors that made Cuba susceptible to revolution, including its one-crop (sugar) economy and U.S. interference in Cuban affairs. While identifying radical nationalism--the defense of national sovereignty and social justice--as a legitimate factor behind the revolution, author Marifeli Perez-Stable also provides insight into the problems facing Castro's Cuba. Arguing that the revolution actually ended in 1970, she blames its defeat on the regime's profitable yet doomed dependence on the Soviet Union. She further charges that Cuba's leaders failed to diversify the economy, to sustain development, or to create democratic institutions. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Latin American history and politics, The Cuban Revolution, Third Edition, offers students fresh insights into contemporary Cuba.
New to this Edition
* Revised coverage of radical nationalism that demonstrates how the actions of Cubans themselves-the elites, the popular sectors, and the middle classes-made the revolution possible
* A more central focus on the tensions between Fidel Castro's leadership, Cuban institutions, and economic policies
* New, largely unpublished research in Chapters 2 and 3
* A new concluding chapter, in which the author updates the transition from Fidel to Raul Castro"