Cuba's defence diplomacy : hard and soft power, 1959‑2018
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
African Sun Media
Abstract
Cuba, a country with eleven million people, played a significant military and development role from the 1960s to the late
1980s, and is still an influential donor country. Its reputation was built on support to revolutionary and national liberation
movements in Latin America and in Africa. Additionally, Cuba also was a provider of medical and humanitarian assistance to
the global South.
Cuba’s military were involved in training and advising Latin American revolutionaries and provided assistance in several
African colonial and postcolonial wars. During the ‘special relation’ with the Soviet Union and the COMECON countries, Cuba
had a redoubtable military and intelligence apparatus, at the same time procuring explicit defence against a potential
invasion by the United States (US) and supporting multiple revolutionary and resistance movements in Africa, Latin America
and the Caribbean.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the COMECON, Cuba restructured its economy, strongly supported by its Armed
Forces as a management instrument and as a food and security provider. In the 1990s, when its strong military position was
weakened, Cuba still preserved and even expanded its medical and literacy assistance to many countries. During the period
of the Latin American Pink Tide governments (2000‑2015), Cuba was again a high-profile player in Latin American and
Caribbean politics.
Description
CITATION: Kruijt, D. 2020. Cuba's defence diplomacy : hard and soft power, 1959‑2018, in Liebenberg, I., Kruijt, D. & Paranjpe, S. (eds) 2020. Defence diplomacy & national security strategy : views from the global south. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928480556/04.
The original publication is available at https://africansunmedia.store.it.si/za
The original publication is available at https://africansunmedia.store.it.si/za
Keywords
National security -- Developing countries, Cuba
Citation
Kruijt, D. 2020. Cuba's defence diplomacy : hard and soft power, 1959‑2018, in Liebenberg, I., Kruijt, D. & Paranjpe, S. (eds) 2020. Defence diplomacy & national security strategy : views from the global south. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928480556/04.