Constructing US Foreign Policy

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.

David Bernell is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Oregon State University, where he teaches and conducts research in international relations, United States foreign policy, and international political economy. He is the author of Readings in American Foreign Policy: Historical and Contemporary Problems (2008), and also consults for the renewable energy firm, Think Energy, Inc.

1. Introduction 2. Imagining Latin America and Cuba 3. Constructing Reagan's Castro 4. Waiting for Fidel 5. Conclusion