United States and Cuba

<p>A great power and a weaker rival neighbor can eventually have normal relations. Prior to 1959 Cuba and the United States didn’t have a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship and amid the Cold War Cuba’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. </p><p>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.</p>