ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the main traits of Cuban external projection at the intersection between international relations theory and foreign policy analysis. It argues that Cuban foreign policy decisions remain dependent on the material and ideational factors that were so important during the years since 1959 but that recently Cuba has been making efforts to adjust to the changing domestic and international environment, prioritizing economic issues over ideological or political ones and expanding its diplomatic interactions at the regional Latin American and Caribbean level. Cuban scholars living on the island have not produced yet many comprehensive works on their country’s foreign policy. The relationship of Cuba with the United States is marked by two physical facts: closeness and asymmetry. In the social sphere, several political and intellectual legacies have enriched Cuban nationality. Antoni Kapcia has also underlined the importance of the prerevolutionary cultural and political legacy, although from a different perspective.
