Cuban experiences: The U.S. Cuba policy since the 1959 revolution from a Cuban perspective

Background

Since the Cuban Revolution triumphed in January 1959, there have been 12 American administrations from Eisenhower to Trump who, in a more or less aggressive way, have left their mark on the confrontational relationship between the two nations. The descriptions of this relationship are primarily based on U.S. sources and carried out by U.S. researchers, and they therefore often have a pro-American character. At the same time, the Cuban experiences and understandings of the relationship are under-researched.

Purpose and aim

The purpose of the project is to explore the U.S. Cuba policy, as it has been designed for more than six decades, based on the Cuban experiences of this policy.

The projects aim to discuss the policies of the various U.S. administrations and present a number of English- and Spanish-language books on the topic that are based on both U.S. and Cuban source material. This is at the same time as these books approach the theme from a Cuban perspective, since the Cuban experiences of this policy is still an under-researched field.

The project that is carried out by Professor Håkan Karlsson (Department of Historical Studies, GU) and Dr. Tomás Diez Acosta (Instituto de Historia de Cuba) will therefore, through its publications, deepen the knowledge of the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba for more than half a century.

Results

The project has in collaboration with the publisher Routledge so far produced three books in the series Routledge Studies in the History of the Americas and a number of books are in production and at the planning stage.

Karlsson, H. and Diez Acosta, T. 2025. Eisenhower and the Cuban Revolution. Ambiguity and Aggression.New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Karlsson, H. and Diez Acosta, T. 2025. John F. Kennedy’s Cuba Policy. From the Bay of Pigs to the MissileNew York: Nova Science Publishers.

Karlsson, H. and Diez Acosta, T. 2022. The Policy of the Ford Administration Toward Cuba. Carrot and Stick. London/New York: Routledge.

Karlsson, H. and Diez Acosta, T. 2021. The Johnson Administration's Cuba Policy: From “Dirty War” to Passive Containment. London/New York: Routledge.

Karlsson, H. and Diez Acosta, T. 2021. The Nixon Administration and Cuba. Continuity and Rupture.London/New York: Routledge.

Karlsson, H. and Diez Acosta, T. 2020. The Last Year of President Kennedy and the “Multiple Path” Policy towards Cuba. London/New York: Routledge.

Karlsson, H. and Diez Acosta, T. 2019. The Missile Crisis from a Cuban Perspective. Historical, Archaeological and Anthropological Reflections. London/New York: Routledge.