Cuba in a Global Context

There is a great deal more to Cuba's place on the global stage than its contentious relationship with the United States. Taking a refreshing look at Cuban international relations, contributors to this volume from both inside and outside the island explore the myriad ways in which it has not only maintained but often increased its reach and influence. In Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, Cuba has assumed a geopolitical role of unlikely prominence.< Even in the face of the ongoing U.S. embargo, Cubans have seen improvement in the quality of their lives. Shedding new light on Cuban diplomacy with communist China as well as with Western governments such as Great Britain and Canada, these essays reveal how the promotion of increased economic and political cooperation between Cuba and Venezuela served as a catalyst for the Petrocaribe group. Links established with countries in the Caribbean and Central America have increased tourism, medical diplomacy, and food sovereignty across the region. Cuban transnationalism has also succeeded in creating people-to-people contacts involving those who have remained on the island and members of the Cuban diaspora. While the specifics of Cuba's international relations are likely to change as new leaders take over, the role of Cubans working to assert their sovereignty has undoubtedly, as this volume demonstrates, impacted every corner of the globe. Cuba's domestic and political successes may even serve as models for other developing countries.