The United States and Cuba : intimate enemies / Marifeli Pérez-Stable ; with an essay by Ana Covarrubias.

Includes bibliographical notes (pages 165-203) and index.

"An Inter-American dialogue book"

1. The United States and Cuba Have Never Had Normal Relations 2. "Next Christmas in Havana" 3. "Half Drunk and Throwing Bottles at Each Other" 4. "We Need to De-Americanize the Problem of Cuba" 5. "The Policy We{u2019}ve Had in Place for 50 Years Hasn{u2019}t Worked" 6. The United States and Cuba: Comparative Reflections (essay by Ana Covarrubias Velasco)

A great power and a weaker, rival neighbor can eventually have normal relations. Prior to 1959, Cuba and the United States didn{u2019}t have a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship, and amid the Cold War, Cuba{u2019}s alliance with the Soviet Union made U.S.-Cuba normality even more elusive. What the United States and Cuba now face is relating to each other as normally as possible, a task made all the more difficult by the shadow of the Cold War. After 1989, regime change returned to the heart of U.S.-Cuba policy, a major obstacle for Washington-Havana dialogue. In turn, Cuban leaders have generally shirked their responsibility to do their part to ease the fifty-year enmity with the United States. This book systematically covers the background of U.S.-Cuban relations after the Cold War and explores tensions that extend into the twenty-first century. The author explores the future of this strained relationship under Obama's presidency and in a post-Castro Cuba.