Cuba's Foreign Policy in the Middle East

by Damian J Fernandez

Cuba’s foreign policy in the Castro era has been characterized by revolutionary internationalism. Although Cuban activism has centered around Latin America and Africa, Cuba has also been involved seriously in Middle East politics since the 1970s. This study documents Cuba’s presence in the Middle East and analyzes Cuba’s contacts with key regional actors. Dr. Fernández discusses the factors that led to Cuba’s increased involvement, including the ideological nature of Castroism and Cuba’s pragmatic foreign policy goals, among which are to increase its leverage with the Soviet Union and to establish Cuban spheres of influence throughout the Third World. He argues that Cuba’s incursion into Middle East politics has introduced new risks into Cuba’s foreign policy and that its activities, which have met with both success and failure, may have far-reaching consequences for individual Middle Eastern states, the Arab-Israeli conflict, both superpowers, and the Cuban regime itself.
—from the back cover

Includes appendices, a Selected Bibliography, and an Index

Publisher’s series: Westview Special Studies on Latin America and the Caribbean

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1988

Reviews

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

This serves as a textbook example of the monstrosity of the State. So Cuba is a country that has a hard time feeding its population. Never mind the context, or who's fault it is. They just have trouble feeding the people, never mind clothing, housing, and all the rest. And they are rather close to Central America and South America with which they share a language (mostly, not with Brazil). And yet they not only gamble on the Middle East, they even have a ”policy”. Indeed. Next time the Ottoman empire is disbanded, they will get their share of sand.