Abstract:
This thesis focuses on the role Cuba played during the Cold War and particularly on Cuba's foreign relations under Castro. This is an analysis of Cuba's role at the international level at Cold War's times; the island's situation was neither stable nor safe since Cuba lived in precarious equilibrium between the Soviet Union - the Soviet giant Cuba had become ally with - and the United States, the other pole, with which contacts and peaceful coexistence were constantly sought in order to achieve détente in mutual relations. To deal with those topics, I chose to propose an interpretation of Cold War times through the translation and comment of "The Cuban Drumbeat" by Piero Gleijeses, eminent Professor of American Foreign Policy at John Hopkins University (USA), who had the priviledge of gaining access to the locked-down cuban governmental archives and their confidential documents. The special relationship between Gleijeses and Cuban representatives let him catch the island's mood, gather important proofs and mix the objectivity of history with a more subjective and personal side.
The reason why one of the author's works constitutes the kernel of this thesis is I want to provide an interpretation of the Cold War which is historically consistent and emotionally convincing at the same time. Since "The Cuban Drumbeat" has not been translated and published in Italy, yet, I chose to propose my own translation; it is preceded by an introduction and a chapter about the author himself and is followed by a section devoted to the comments the book got from its readers and the reviews issued by experts in International Relations.
The second chapter has been entirely dedicated to a detailed explanation of the historical context in order to explain the Cuban role in the bipolar world and describe Cuban interventions in Africa, which were aimed at supporting local populations against colonialism and Apartheid and at giving them their stolen dignity back.
Gleijeses works demonstrate a small Caribbean state was able to detach itself from the stereotype of Cuba simply being a pawn on the Soviet chessboard. Cuba was also able to prove it could run autonomous initiatives and pursue great aims despite the human and material costs this commitment implied. Cuban actions were frequently misunderstood at the international level since they were interpreted as an aftermath of Soviet will, which Gleijeses denies as it is self-evident that great leaders do not only belong to big and powerful countries; in any case, criticism neither affected nor discouraged Cuba in its international adventures.
