Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the future

The results of the Caribbean crisis in the domestic and foreign literature have rarely been covered from the point of view of the Soviet-Cuban relations that influenced the internationalist policy of Cuba in Africa in the 1970s. The author analyzes: the degree of independence of Cuba’s policy in Afr...

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Main Author: B. F. Martynov
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) 2022-07-01
Series:Ибероамериканские тетради
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.iberpapers.org/jour/article/view/477
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author B. F. Martynov
author_facet B. F. Martynov
author_sort B. F. Martynov
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description The results of the Caribbean crisis in the domestic and foreign literature have rarely been covered from the point of view of the Soviet-Cuban relations that influenced the internationalist policy of Cuba in Africa in the 1970s. The author analyzes: the degree of independence of Cuba’s policy in Africa, the participation of the USSR in it and the fairness of accusations brought by Washington. The results of the analysis show that deploying of Cuban “volunteers” in Angola and then in Ethiopia was not initiated by the USSR, which aimed at maintaining détente in relations with the West. Moreover, new deterioration of relations with Cuba amid escalating Chinese-Soviet tensions, increasing centrifugal tendencies in the “socialist commonwealth” and emergence of “Eurocommunism” threatened to further weaken the “world system of socialism” and erode the ideological foundations of Marxism-Leninism. By analyzing Cuba’s internationalist activity in Africa, the author has been able to draw some conclusions about its implications for the international communist movement and its influence on the balance of power in the world before perestroika policy began in the Soviet Union. The end of détente policy did not allow the USSR to redirect the resources released from the arms race to improving the living conditions of the Soviet people. Cuban revolutionary activity contributed to fragmentation of the formerly united “upfront antiimperialist forces.” The weakening of the ideological foundations of “real socialism” was an additional factor that prompted the Soviet leadership, represented by Mikhail Gorbachev, to begin a policy of perestroika. Cuba’s ‘progress’ in Africa contributed to consolidation of Cuban society around the policy of the Cuban Communist Party, which, in turn, helped it to withstand the difficulties of the “peculiar period of peace” in the early 1990s.
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spelling doaj.art-182ba99d4052405087c6e5fdd392f6f92023-03-13T07:27:41ZrusMoscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO)Ибероамериканские тетради2409-34162658-52192022-07-01101385210.46272/2409-3416-2022-10-1-38-52458Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the futureB. F. Martynov0МГИМО МИД РоссииThe results of the Caribbean crisis in the domestic and foreign literature have rarely been covered from the point of view of the Soviet-Cuban relations that influenced the internationalist policy of Cuba in Africa in the 1970s. The author analyzes: the degree of independence of Cuba’s policy in Africa, the participation of the USSR in it and the fairness of accusations brought by Washington. The results of the analysis show that deploying of Cuban “volunteers” in Angola and then in Ethiopia was not initiated by the USSR, which aimed at maintaining détente in relations with the West. Moreover, new deterioration of relations with Cuba amid escalating Chinese-Soviet tensions, increasing centrifugal tendencies in the “socialist commonwealth” and emergence of “Eurocommunism” threatened to further weaken the “world system of socialism” and erode the ideological foundations of Marxism-Leninism. By analyzing Cuba’s internationalist activity in Africa, the author has been able to draw some conclusions about its implications for the international communist movement and its influence on the balance of power in the world before perestroika policy began in the Soviet Union. The end of détente policy did not allow the USSR to redirect the resources released from the arms race to improving the living conditions of the Soviet people. Cuban revolutionary activity contributed to fragmentation of the formerly united “upfront antiimperialist forces.” The weakening of the ideological foundations of “real socialism” was an additional factor that prompted the Soviet leadership, represented by Mikhail Gorbachev, to begin a policy of perestroika. Cuba’s ‘progress’ in Africa contributed to consolidation of Cuban society around the policy of the Cuban Communist Party, which, in turn, helped it to withstand the difficulties of the “peculiar period of peace” in the early 1990s.https://www.iberpapers.org/jour/article/view/477холодная войнакарибский кризисполитика разрядкианголасомалийско-эфиопский конфликтвнешняя политика кубыполитика «перестройки»
spellingShingle B. F. Martynov
Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the future
Ибероамериканские тетради
холодная война
карибский кризис
политика разрядки
ангола
сомалийско-эфиопский конфликт
внешняя политика кубы
политика «перестройки»
title Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the future
title_full Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the future
title_fullStr Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the future
title_full_unstemmed Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the future
title_short Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the future
title_sort soviet cuban relations after the caribbean crisis the collapse of detente and lessons for the future
topic холодная война
карибский кризис
политика разрядки
ангола
сомалийско-эфиопский конфликт
внешняя политика кубы
политика «перестройки»
url https://www.iberpapers.org/jour/article/view/477
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