Michelle Zebich-Knos and Heather N. Nicol (eds.), Foreign Policy Toward Cuba: Isolation or Engagement (Lanham, MD, and Oxford: Lexington Books, 2005), pp. ix+285, £17.99, pb.
arguing that in a post-9/11 world, relations with a nearby neighbour like Cuba are once again a serious security matter. Cuba has been willing to cooperate with the United States in the war on terror (having itself been subjected over the years to numerous terrorist attacks launched from US territory), and she argues that it would benefit both countries to build on that common interest. Editors must always make tough choices about what to include in a collection like this, but the volume would have benefited from chapters on Cuban relations with Venezuela and China. Hugo Chávez’s unabashed admiration for Fidel Castro, combined with his own hemispheric Bolivarian activism, suggest that oil-rich Venezuela could become an enduring partner for Cuban socialism. China’s growing investment in Cuba, along with its allure as a possible model for Cuba’s evolving economy make this bilateral relationship especially intriguing, as well. Notwithstanding these lacunae, this is a first-rate addition to the literature on Cuba’s international relations, written by some of the best analysts of the subject both on the island and off. A decade from now, perhaps another sequel will examine not only how Cuba survived in the international system, but how it managed to build a prosperous economy and overcome conflicts with its neighbours in Latin America, Europe and perhaps even the United States.