Canada, the United States, and Cuba: An Evolving Relationship (review)

This book is a collection of seven essays written by mostly Canadian authors. It seeks to provide insights into the nature and direction of change in the "triangular" relationship among Cuba, Canada, and the United States since the end of the cold war. This book promises far more than it delivers, however. Many of the essays contained in this volume are narrative and descriptive rather than analytical. Furthermore, most of the papers do not offer any new information. Overall, this volume does not provide the analytic tools to better understand the dynamics of the Cuba-Canada-U.S. relationship.

The first section of this book on Cuba in the wider world contains an essay written by Hal Klepak on Cuba's security agenda. Although it provides a helpful summary of the evolution of Cuban defense policy and military affairs throughout Cuba's revolutionary period, Cuba's Special Period is only briefly covered. Emphasizing the diminished capacity of Cuba's armed forces to deal with traditional security challenges, such as the threat from the United States and internal security against subversion, the author points out that new challenges will arise as Cuba's armed forces are confronted with an explosive social scene fueled by ongoing economic problems. The paper would have been well served by an exploration of this highly relevant concern.

In the second section, on Canada-Cuba relations, Sahadeo Basdeo and Ian Hesketh trace developments related to Canada's policy of constructive engagement. Rather than assess the future of the policy based on an analysis of the key driving factors that contribute to the evolving relationship, this narrative of relations is used to make a case for continued engagement, emphasizing its appeal as an alternative to U.S. policy. Fortunately, in one of the more insightful essays in this volume Peter McKenna, John Kirk, and Christine Climenhage take up the task of projecting the future of Canada's policy. They conclude that despite bilateral tensions since Prime Minister Chrétien's visit to Cuba in 1998, many of the driving forces of Canada-Cuba relations remain in place (although the authors inflate the Canadian business community's presence and enthusiasm in present-day Cuba). The result may well see Canada committed to constructive engagement but somewhat ineffective in stimulating movement along the human rights front.

The third section, on U.S.-Cuba relations, begins with an essay by Stephen Randall that provides a useful, although unoriginal, chronological overview of the bilateral relationship between Cuba and the United States over the past twenty years, with a focus on the post–cold war period. In a paper that stands out in terms of policy relevance and explanatory value, Daniel Fisk (of the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation) analyzes the evolving forces underpinning U.S. policy toward Cuba in order to explain policy developments since the enactment of the Helms-Burton legislation. Oddly, this section of the book includes a paper by Karl Koth that discusses Cuba's current development path and speculates about future development options for the island. Relying heavily on unsystematic interviews and anecdotal evidence—for example, "the Cuban economy appears to have grown considerably" (123)—and personal commentary to develop his arguments, this paper is far more suited for publication on a newspaper's editorial page than for inclusion in a scholarly volume.

The final section of this book is comprised of a jargon-laden essay by Heather Nicol that attempts to make some concluding observations through her analysis of political discourse. Relying on some original research, she identifies the existence of new political discourses toward Cuba in Canada and the United States since 1996, with Canadians moving to the right on Cuba issues, while U.S. perspectives are becoming somewhat more liberal. This reality, according to the author, allows new possibilities for international relations to emerge. Unfortunately, Nicol is not able to shed light on these possibilities.