Cuba's Foreign Relations in a Post-Soviet World

Book excerpt: "One of the first serious attempts to explain the re-articulation of Cuban foreign policy in the 1990s, after the end of its special relationship with the former socialist bloc. Should be of relevance to specialists, students, and all readers interested in Cuban foreign policy and the evolution of the Cuba-U.S. conflict."--International Affairs "Kudos to Erisman for a timely, provocative, and persuasive analysis of Cuban foreign affairs. This book should be required reading for policy makers in Havana and Washington, for Latin American and Caribbean specialists, and for all those intrigued by the survival of the Cuban Revolution into the 21st century."--John W. Cotman, Howard University In his analysis of the broad scope of revolutionary Cuba's foreign relations, H. Michael Erisman emphasizes two key aspects: Cuba's adjustment since the disintegration of the Soviet Bloc and the ongoing confrontation between Cuba and the United States. Using revolutionary Cuba's foreign relations as a case study in counterdependency politics, he proposes that the country has always been highly sensitive to the danger of overdependence on an external power and examines Havana's implementation of this stance in both the Cold War and post-Cold War periods. As the first comprehensive single-author treatment of the subject, Erisman not only tells readers what happened to Cuba's foreign relations but also offers a basis for understanding them. H. Michael Erisman is professor of political science at Indiana State University.