Fidel Castro's Relevance in International Affairs
(Written in 2018 and left in the draft form. Reposting)
After quite a long time, I am visiting my Blog space.
As an academic, an International Relations student, and an area specialist in Latin American Studies, I must address the most important news that appears from the hemisphere. Fidel Castro is no more. Long live the Cuban Revolution...
Fidel, the ruler of Cuba for half a century, passed away on 26th November 2016. He was 90 years old. He led the revolutionary forces against the Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, captured the power and changed the political map of Cuba forever. The global media covered the news and extended it with supporting articles that included praise and criticism about the person and his regime.
A few things will keep his memory alive forever:
Without his presence, it is difficult to learn, teach and discuss the international politics of the 20th century and maybe a bit of the present century. No one in the world expected that the small island country, located just 90 miles close to the mighty United States, could make so much of an impact in the Cold War period.
International Relations is a discipline developed in the West, especially in the US to provide an academic structure to international political developments. It was defined and refined by academicians, policymakers and the political leadership of the 20th century. Personalities such as Woodrow Wilson, Roosevelt (FDR), Kennedy, and Reagan handled crucial movements in history and contributed to the development of International Relations (IR) as a discipline.
Without the presence of a counter-power, it is impossible to create an impact on the International System and that vacuum was filled by different characters such as Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Min, and Fidel Castro. When these powers get in conflict or in a friendship, it matters to the world a lot. US-USSR rivalry, US-China friendship, and the US-Vietnam war were not local issues limited to the concerned countries. It had a ripple effect across the globe in the form of alignment as well as protest. Castro emerges from nowhere into the middle of global politics. He stayed for another half century to show his presence and influence in global events. He never wrote a book on international politics or relations but became an instrument to interpret the relations between the countries.
US-Latin American relations are older than Castro's intervention. The concept of US hegemony over Latin America was interpreted from the days of the Monroe Doctrine which completed two centuries by 2022. Castro played his role in a crucial time and tried to test the impact of the doctrine in modern times. In short, Castro's presence in Cuba was the time to re-interpret and redefine the relationship of the United States with Latin American countries. The verbal response of former President Donald Trump marks the bitterness of the relationship between the two countries. With a dash of grace, President Obama decided to leave the right, to assess the merit and demerits of the contributions of Fidel Castro, to history. This decision matters more to the students of IR than to the students of History.
History will tell us how much impact Castro created in the 1960s and 1970s in Latin America. Indirectly, he was responsible for many military interventions and toppling of elected rulers in Latin American countries. The success of the Cuban revolution and the capabilities of Fidel and his close friend Ernesto Che Guevara triggered a xenophobic approach by US authorities and foreign policy experts against the spread of Communism, the largest sin in the universe, Any symptom of political change whether it carries the elements of socialism or nationalism with egalitarianism were clubbed with Communism and acted with zero tolerance.
Those who study International Relations will definitely come across the application of the Rational Actors Model (RAM), and invariably the example will be from the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. One of the most important events took the bipolar world to an extreme level of confrontation that put the world on the verge of a third world war. All this happened because of one person, the thorn in the flesh of the United States for five decades, Fidel Castro. He broke a deal with the Soviet Union and allowed them to install missiles which could carry nuclear weapons. For the first time after the Pearl Harbour attack, the United States felt the direct presence of its enemy. Until 1962, the theatre of the Cold War was either in Europe or elsewhere, not in the United States.
Those who try to understand about the purpose and success of confidence-building measures will certainly learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the contribution (in absence) of Fidel and his little Cuba. The students of Human Rights will definitely come across the cases of Cuban Americans who were expelled or forced to migrate to the United States after the revolution.
Economic embargo is a very much discussed issue in International Relations. The international embargo on Iran against its nuclear programmes gathered the attention of the world in the recent past. But, it is the embargo against Cuba, the longest serving, that first comes to the mind of any disciple of IR. Obama marked his name with Castro in history through his Cuba visit and attempt to relax the embargo, though he was resisted by US Congress. Maybe, one embargo imposed by one country to another surpassed its original objective and turned into an international law to control the attempts of other countries who tried to deal with Cuba. Helms-Burton Act added the biting power of the Cuban policy of the US with legal authority and was successful in containing the activities of companies from other countries doing trade with Cuba. An example of an internal law creating an impact on international matters.
Embargo also provides another angle for the IR students to understand how Cuba survived for so long through adversary circumstances. Whether it shows the iron will of the Cuban people or the fighting spirit of Castro for his personal interests. Cuba has gone through a different political environment during this period. They lost their foremost friend in the Soviet Union, and the post-Cold War environment allowed the US to tighten the screw against Cuba to bring them on prescribed terms. Whether it shows the failure of the strategic superiority of the US in the fields including military, economic and diplomacy. It is really interesting to understand how the United States overcame the opposition of International community on its action against Cuba. United Nations denounced, on several occasions (straight 22 years), the US embargo against Cuba and in 2013 the voting on this issue produced a result of 188/2 (US and Israel).
When 'terrorism' started playing a key role in International Relations, the United States tried to use it as a tool to fix Cuba. Under the pressure from Cuban exile community, President Ronald Reagan added Cuba to the 'State Sponsors of Terrorism List' in 1982. Cuba anticipated that the 9/11 incident would provide more opportunities to use 'terrorism' as a card against the country and acted very fast to avoid such a label. Immediately after 9/11, Castro expressed the solidarity of the Cuban people with the US and also offered medical support. By the end of 2001, Cuba ratified 12 international treaties against terrorism. Still, during the regime of George W. Bush, there were some attempts to tie Cuba with countries threatening others with biological weapons. Castros' again provided an opportunity for Obama to become part of US-Cuba history on a positive note, by removing the name of Cuba from the State Sponsored Terrorism List, in May 2015.
It shows that it is not just the state power but the influence of the personality that also holds the capacity to determine the course of international relations. Fidel Castro lived for 90 years and was in power for more than 50 years. If one goes through the history of the world over the last 60 years, it is difficult to ignore, the negative and positive, contributions of Fidel Castro and it shows that his presence had a tremendous influence on the course of International Relations. It is possible to oppose his positions, ideology, and contributions, but it is impossible to negate his presence from history.
As an academic, an International Relations student, and an area specialist in Latin American Studies, I must address the most important news that appears from the hemisphere. Fidel Castro is no more. Long live the Cuban Revolution...
Fidel, the ruler of Cuba for half a century, passed away on 26th November 2016. He was 90 years old. He led the revolutionary forces against the Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, captured the power and changed the political map of Cuba forever. The global media covered the news and extended it with supporting articles that included praise and criticism about the person and his regime.
A few things will keep his memory alive forever:
Without his presence, it is difficult to learn, teach and discuss the international politics of the 20th century and maybe a bit of the present century. No one in the world expected that the small island country, located just 90 miles close to the mighty United States, could make so much of an impact in the Cold War period.
International Relations is a discipline developed in the West, especially in the US to provide an academic structure to international political developments. It was defined and refined by academicians, policymakers and the political leadership of the 20th century. Personalities such as Woodrow Wilson, Roosevelt (FDR), Kennedy, and Reagan handled crucial movements in history and contributed to the development of International Relations (IR) as a discipline.
Without the presence of a counter-power, it is impossible to create an impact on the International System and that vacuum was filled by different characters such as Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Min, and Fidel Castro. When these powers get in conflict or in a friendship, it matters to the world a lot. US-USSR rivalry, US-China friendship, and the US-Vietnam war were not local issues limited to the concerned countries. It had a ripple effect across the globe in the form of alignment as well as protest. Castro emerges from nowhere into the middle of global politics. He stayed for another half century to show his presence and influence in global events. He never wrote a book on international politics or relations but became an instrument to interpret the relations between the countries.
US-Latin American relations are older than Castro's intervention. The concept of US hegemony over Latin America was interpreted from the days of the Monroe Doctrine which completed two centuries by 2022. Castro played his role in a crucial time and tried to test the impact of the doctrine in modern times. In short, Castro's presence in Cuba was the time to re-interpret and redefine the relationship of the United States with Latin American countries. The verbal response of former President Donald Trump marks the bitterness of the relationship between the two countries. With a dash of grace, President Obama decided to leave the right, to assess the merit and demerits of the contributions of Fidel Castro, to history. This decision matters more to the students of IR than to the students of History.
History will tell us how much impact Castro created in the 1960s and 1970s in Latin America. Indirectly, he was responsible for many military interventions and toppling of elected rulers in Latin American countries. The success of the Cuban revolution and the capabilities of Fidel and his close friend Ernesto Che Guevara triggered a xenophobic approach by US authorities and foreign policy experts against the spread of Communism, the largest sin in the universe, Any symptom of political change whether it carries the elements of socialism or nationalism with egalitarianism were clubbed with Communism and acted with zero tolerance.
Those who study International Relations will definitely come across the application of the Rational Actors Model (RAM), and invariably the example will be from the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. One of the most important events took the bipolar world to an extreme level of confrontation that put the world on the verge of a third world war. All this happened because of one person, the thorn in the flesh of the United States for five decades, Fidel Castro. He broke a deal with the Soviet Union and allowed them to install missiles which could carry nuclear weapons. For the first time after the Pearl Harbour attack, the United States felt the direct presence of its enemy. Until 1962, the theatre of the Cold War was either in Europe or elsewhere, not in the United States.
Those who try to understand about the purpose and success of confidence-building measures will certainly learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the contribution (in absence) of Fidel and his little Cuba. The students of Human Rights will definitely come across the cases of Cuban Americans who were expelled or forced to migrate to the United States after the revolution.
Economic embargo is a very much discussed issue in International Relations. The international embargo on Iran against its nuclear programmes gathered the attention of the world in the recent past. But, it is the embargo against Cuba, the longest serving, that first comes to the mind of any disciple of IR. Obama marked his name with Castro in history through his Cuba visit and attempt to relax the embargo, though he was resisted by US Congress. Maybe, one embargo imposed by one country to another surpassed its original objective and turned into an international law to control the attempts of other countries who tried to deal with Cuba. Helms-Burton Act added the biting power of the Cuban policy of the US with legal authority and was successful in containing the activities of companies from other countries doing trade with Cuba. An example of an internal law creating an impact on international matters.
Embargo also provides another angle for the IR students to understand how Cuba survived for so long through adversary circumstances. Whether it shows the iron will of the Cuban people or the fighting spirit of Castro for his personal interests. Cuba has gone through a different political environment during this period. They lost their foremost friend in the Soviet Union, and the post-Cold War environment allowed the US to tighten the screw against Cuba to bring them on prescribed terms. Whether it shows the failure of the strategic superiority of the US in the fields including military, economic and diplomacy. It is really interesting to understand how the United States overcame the opposition of International community on its action against Cuba. United Nations denounced, on several occasions (straight 22 years), the US embargo against Cuba and in 2013 the voting on this issue produced a result of 188/2 (US and Israel).
When 'terrorism' started playing a key role in International Relations, the United States tried to use it as a tool to fix Cuba. Under the pressure from Cuban exile community, President Ronald Reagan added Cuba to the 'State Sponsors of Terrorism List' in 1982. Cuba anticipated that the 9/11 incident would provide more opportunities to use 'terrorism' as a card against the country and acted very fast to avoid such a label. Immediately after 9/11, Castro expressed the solidarity of the Cuban people with the US and also offered medical support. By the end of 2001, Cuba ratified 12 international treaties against terrorism. Still, during the regime of George W. Bush, there were some attempts to tie Cuba with countries threatening others with biological weapons. Castros' again provided an opportunity for Obama to become part of US-Cuba history on a positive note, by removing the name of Cuba from the State Sponsored Terrorism List, in May 2015.
It shows that it is not just the state power but the influence of the personality that also holds the capacity to determine the course of international relations. Fidel Castro lived for 90 years and was in power for more than 50 years. If one goes through the history of the world over the last 60 years, it is difficult to ignore, the negative and positive, contributions of Fidel Castro and it shows that his presence had a tremendous influence on the course of International Relations. It is possible to oppose his positions, ideology, and contributions, but it is impossible to negate his presence from history.
(Written in 2018. Left it in the draft form. Found it in the drafts and posted today [13/06/2024]
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