This book investigates the phenomenon of the political coexistence of the United States with Cuba that developed between the beginning of the John F. Kennedy administration and the Cold War détente of the mid-1970s. It is revealed that due to the US global commitments, related to the Cold War and the risk of confrontation with the Soviet Union, the political approach of Washington to the Fidel Castro’s Cuba constituted a perpetuated condition of suspense between war and peace. Despite the failure of both the US hostile policies and diplomatic dialogue with Castro, the mutual tension remained under control of recurrent crisis management course. Ultimately, the US attempts to discipline and moderate Cuban policies led to an actual political coexistence between the two countries, establishing a long-term dynamics of the US attitude toward Cuba for the following decades. By combining a historical approach with political and international analysis through broad reference to primary sources, the study offers an insightful investigation of the global processes affecting the U.S. – Cuban dynamics of political coexistence. This volume will be of great value to those studying American history, 20th century history, international relations and political science across North America, Europe and other parts of the world.

History is being made in U.S.-Cuban relations. Now in paperback and updated to tell the real story behind the stunning December 17, 2014, announcement by President Obama and President Castro of their move to restore full diplomatic relations, this powerful book is essential to understanding ongoing efforts toward normalization in a new era of engagement. Challenging the conventional wisdom of perpetual conflict and aggression between the United States and Cuba since 1959, Back Channel to Cuba chronicles a surprising, untold history of bilateral efforts toward rapprochement and reconciliation. William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh here present a remarkably new and relevant account, describing how, despite the intense political clamor surrounding efforts to improve relations with Havana, negotiations have been conducted by every presidential administration since Eisenhower's through secret, back-channel diplomacy. From John F. Kennedy's offering of an olive branch to Fidel Castro after the missile crisis, to Henry Kissinger's top secret quest for normalization, to Barack Obama's promise of a new approach, LeoGrande and Kornbluh uncovered hundreds of formerly secret U.S. documents and conducted interviews with dozens of negotiators, intermediaries, and policy makers, including Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter. They reveal a fifty-year record of dialogue and negotiations, both open and furtive, that provides the historical foundation for the dramatic breakthrough in U.S.-Cuba ties.

The Times Literary Supplement calls Louis A. Pérez Jr. "the foremost historian of Cuba writing in English." In this new edition of his acclaimed 1990 volume, he brings his expertise to bear on the history and direction of relations between Cuba and the United States. Of all the peoples in Latin America, the author argues, none have been more familiar to the United States than Cubans--who in turn have come to know their northern neighbors equally well. Focusing on what President McKinley called "the ties of singular intimacy" linking the destinies of the two societies, Pérez examines the points at which they have made contact--politically, culturally, economically--and explores the dilemmas that proximity to the United States has posed to Cubans in their quest for national identity. This edition has been updated to cover such developments of recent years as the renewed debate over American trade sanctions against Cuba, the Elián González controversy, and increased cultural exchanges between the two countries. Also included are a new preface and an updated bibliographical essay.