International Relations Commons^™

Covert Imperialism: The Eisenhower Administration And Cuba, Patrick R. Sullivan

Student Publications

This paper tracks the Eisenhower Administration’s shifting policy towards Cuba and its use of covert imperialism to obtain its objectives. The policy considerations of the United States centered around a convenience for American interests. The support for the Batista regime, despite its oppression, exacerbated anti-American sentiments in the Cuban Revolution and put it on a collision course with American interests. As engagement failed, Cuba nationalized, and tensions escalated, the Eisenhower Administration initiated a campaign of covert imperialism that sought a government more in line with its interests. The covert operations implemented included economic and political sabotage, assassination attempts, and the …

Cuban Exiles And U.S. Foreign Policy, Caroline Ranawn Mcculloch

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the influence of Cuban-American exiles in shaping U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba from the 1980s to the present. The role of Cuban-American interest groups is analyzed within a larger context of U.S. national security objectives, national politics and Cuban politics. Instead of privileging domestic politics or national security politics in explaining Cuban-American influence, as other International Relations theories do, this study argues that Cuban exile politics can best be understood as an expression of subnational interest group power that affects, and is affected by, the shifting dynamics of local, national and global politics. Also, ideological divisions and …

Us And The Cold War In Latin America, Thomas Field

Publications

The Cold War in Latin America had marked consequences for the region’s political and economic evolution. From the origins of US fears of Latin American Communism in the early 20th century to the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, regional actors played central roles in the drama. Seeking to maximize economic benefit while maintaining independence with regard to foreign policy, Latin Americans employed an eclectic combination of liberal and anti-imperialist discourses, balancing frequent calls for anti-Communist hemispheric unity with periodic diplomatic entreaties to the Soviet bloc and the nonaligned Third World. Meanwhile, US Cold War policies toward …

Political Implications On Santería, Ludmille Glaude

Undergraduate Research

This paper will examine how the Batista and Castro regimes policies on religious freedom were able to impact the attitudes towards practitioners of Santería, amongst the Cuban public. Santeria is a polytheistic religion practiced in Cuba that combines elements of Yoruba beliefs and Catholicism. Recently, Santeria appears to be experiencing a growth in visibility in Cuba. In this paper, I aim to examine and identify the causal link between government policies and their effect on the perceptions of Santeria during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I also aim to demonstrate these perceptions of Santeria have affected their visibility--or lack thereof.

Perceptions On Santería: Then And Now, Ludmille Glaude

Undergraduate Research

This paper will examine how the Batista and Castro regimes were able to impact the perception of Santería amongst the Cuban public. Santeria is a polytheistic religion practiced in Cuba that combines elements of Yoruba beliefs and Catholicism. Recently, Santeria appears to be experiencing a growth in visibility in Cuba. The syncretic religion and its visibility, has become of interest to examine and report on, amongst many media outlets. According to a Vice News article published as recently as 2014, the author dubs Santería as “Cuba’s New Religion”. The article describes Santería as a dynamic form of worship, with participation …

Improving Rhode Island’S Health Care System: Lessons From The Cuban Model, Sarah R. Moffitt

Senior Honors Projects

Improving Rhode Island’s health care system: lessons from the Cuban model

Cuba is world renowned for its health care system. In regards to international health crises, Cuba is a leader in sending workers abroad and training doctors from all over the world. Within its own borders, the Cuban model provides free access to all citizens in which every individual has a primary care provider. Cuba boasts high vaccination rates, a long life expectancy, low infant mortality rate, and a population that is one of the healthiest in the western hemisphere.

The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the …

Swords Into Stethoscopes: How The U.S. Military Could Conduct Medical Diplomacy, Oliver Kendall

Political Science Honors Projects

Since the early 1960’s, Cuba and China have won international appreciation by sending doctors abroad to help where they are needed. While there was surprise in some quarters when U.S. military personnel were deployed to combat Ebola in the last months of 2014, the Department of Defense actually has a long history of medical activity. In its current form, DoD medical outreach cannot likely garner soft power in the way that the Chinese and Cuban programs can, but with a few modifications, the U.S. military could be a serious conductor of medical diplomacy that would save countless lives and benefit …

Diplomatic Normalization Between The Us And Cuba In Light Of Recent Changes In Us Foreign Policy More Generally, Ethan Zawatsky, Ashley Gemma

Senior Honors Projects

We analyze normalization of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba. We first examine the causes of previous normalizations with Vietnam and China. From these cases, we identify factors that are key to the normalization process. These include political turnover, economic interests, other special interest groups, public sentiment, and what we refer to as the Lawnmower Effect. This effect is observed when one or both nations attempt to reopen diplomatic ties only to continually fail to establish relations due to the endurance of underlying political issues. We use the Multiple Streams Framework (a policy formulation theory) in order to evaluate …

No. 8 - The Cuban Embargo: Policy Outlook After 50 Years, Rebecca H. White, C. Donald Johnson, Archibald R.M. Ritter, Ray Walser, Ricardo Torres, Timothy L. Meyer, Daniel W. Fisk, Vicki J. Huddleston, Robert L. Muse, José R. Cabañas, Marisa Pagnattaro, Jonathan C. Benjamin-Alvarado, Gary W. Black, C. Parr Rosson Iii, Jorge Mario Sanchez Egozcue

Occasional Papers Series

Organized and sponsored by the Dean Rusk Center for International Law and Policy, The Cuban Embargo: Policy Outlook after 50 Years was a daylong conference exploring issues related to the impact of trade sanctions imposed by the United States on Cuba, pathways to lifting the embargo and potential U.S.-Cuba trade opportunities. Ambassador José R, Cabañas, the chief of mission at the Cuban Interests Section in Washinton, D.C., served as the keynote speaker for the event. The transcript of the conference proceedings has been edited for publication with the consent of the speakers.

Operation Pedro Pan: 50 Years Later, Rita M. Cauce

Works of the FIU Libraries

This article was written to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Operation Pedro Pan and the subsequent Florida International University Libraries’ exhibition. It chronicles the events in Cuba and in Miami leading to Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus of unaccompanied children in the Western hemisphere. A total of 14,048 children arrived in the United States through Operation Pedro Pan between December 1960 and October 1962. Approximately half of the children did not have family in the United States and were taken under the care of Miami child welfare agencies. The impact of this large influx on an unprepared Miami, …

Separated Children Fleeing Persecution: A Comparative Study Of Asylum Policies In The U.K. And The U.S., Sarah M. Howe

Government and International Relations Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Interview With Otis Cunningham, Danny Fenster

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement

Length: 98 minutes

Oral history interview of Otis Cunningham by Danny Fenster

Mr. Cunningham begins by explaining what it was like growing up amidst the Civil Rights Movement in Chicago, witnessing the reactions to the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. He explains how he first became involved in activism for African liberation movements when he joined the African-American Solidarity Committee where he served on the editorial board of their journal and he elaborates on the work they did. He recalls the social gatherings that sprung up through the movement. He explains the complicated history and relationships …

Reflections On The Cuban Revolution, Gary Prevost

Political Science Faculty Publications

When I visited Cuba in the first few days of 1992, it was not clear that the revolution would survive. Food was in relatively short supply and electricity blackouts were common. Even long-time supporters of the revolution were pessimistic about the future. Everything that had been accomplished in its first 32 years seemed in jeopardy when the Soviet Union went out of existence at the end of 1991 and canceled most of its trade deals with Cuba. The country’s gross domestic product was in the process of shrinking by 50 percent. How did the Cuban Revolution survive that shock, and …

Political Pilgrimage To Cuba, 1959-1996, Irving Louis Horowitz

Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies Occasional Papers

Author seeks to examine the specific dynamics of support for Fidel Castro as it persists in the present climate of American elite opinion.