Constructing US foreign policy : the curious case of Cuba / David Bernell.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [169]-181) and index.

Latin America : a different kind of place -- Latin Americans as fellow travellers -- Cuba, the Cold War foe -- Waiting for Fidel, and now Rauĺ -- The presence of the past, or an Obama departure?

This book addresses the roots of the hostility that has characterized the United States'relationship with Cuba and has persisted for decades, even in the wake of the end of the Cold War. It answers the question of why America's Cold War era policy toward Cuba has not substantially changed, despite a radically changed international environment. Cuba is indeed a "curious case," as the title suggests, and the book uses it to shed light on the contours and paradoxes of US policy during the Cold War and beyond.