US Foreign Policy towards Cuba: Historical Roots, Traditional Explanations and Alternative Perspectives

Abstract

This article examines the various interpretations of the root causes of US foreign policy towards Cuba. Examining 250 years of policies articulated and defended by prominent US foreign policy decision-makers, the authors decide that geopolitical, economic and ideological explanations of why the US has behaved towards Cuba the way it has need to be supplemented by an understanding of the counter-revolutionary US foreign policy agenda. Drawing upon North American scholars, many of whom have been critics of US policy, and interpreted by a US and Cuban scholarly lens, the article suggests that examinations of the fundamental motivations for US policy go beyond common explanations and should be applied to the recent dramatic announcements by Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro that relationships between the two countries will be significantly changing in the near future.