Why US foreign policy towards Cuba has not thawed since the end of the cold war - Dissertation Example

s in the field of foreign relations. More specifically, most of the researches involving this particular topic focused on the development of the foreign relations between the two. Indeed, the relationship between the United States of America and Cuba can be traced as far as the Spanish-American war, when Cuba attained its independence. The two began a good relationship but eventually became bitter after accession of Fidel Castro into power. This research offers an extensive review of the foreign policy of the United States of America towards Cuba, focusing on the primary sources such as the speeches of Fidel Castro, his books and the like.

Chapter 1: (Condensed to 1,420 words) Introduction Background of the Study The relationship between Cuba and the United States started when the Spanish-American war ended. Spain was defeated by the United States in this particular war (Osieja, 2006; Wittkopf & McCormick, 2007). As such, the United States granted the then colonies of Spain their independence with the condition that the United States could intervene in their internal affairs if it becomes necessary (Aronson, Rogers, Sweig & Meid, 2001; Gibbs & Gibbs, 2011).

In line with this agreement, Cuba has also granted a perpetual lease in favor of the United States of its naval base at Guantanamo bay (Haney & Vanderbush, 2005). The two countries cooperated with one another for the next fifty years after the independence of Cuba (Wittkopf & McCormick, 2007). The United States play an important role in terms of aiding Cuba in quelling down rebellions (Wittkopf & McCormick, 2007). Furthermore, the United States also began to pour in economic investments into the country in order to help them develop.

However, things began to change with the 1959 Cuban Revolution (Gibbs & Gibbs, 2011). Primarily, the United States expressed support towards Castro by imposing an arms embargo against the administration of then-President General Fulgencio Bautista. In fact, the United States immediately recognized the government of Castro (Wittkopf & McCormick, 2007). However, the Castro government began seizing private lands and nationalized private companies, including those of American origin (Haney & Vanderbush, 2005; Osieja, 2006).

As a result thereof, the administration of then-President Eisenhower responded by imposing trade restrictions except for the basic necessities such as food and medicines (Gibbs & Gibbs, 2011). As a response to the alleged “Yankee-Imperialism,” Castro decided to start trading with the Soviet Union instead (Meacham, 2009). In this regard, the United States dissolved all diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and from then on, the unfriendly relationship between the two begun (Wittkopf & McCormick, 2007).

Indeed, the bitter relationship between Cuba and the United States worsened upon the accession of Fidel Castro in 1959. The relationship between the two has evolved into bitter arguments, political grandstanding and eventually resorted to an international crises (Wittkopf & McCormick, 2007). In fact, since 1961, the two countries have failed to enter into a bilateral agreement and would often call upon Switzerland as their mediator should they need to negotiate on certain matters (Aronson, Rogers, Sweig & Meid, 2001; Haney & Vanderbush, 2005).

The relationship