Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Cuba Before 1959 -- What were the main features of Cuban life during Spanish colonial rule? -- How did Cuba's independence movement gain momentum, and what was its relationship to abolition? -- Who was Jose Marti? -- How did Cuba's final war for independence begin? -- Why did the United States intervene and how did the Cuban war of independence come to be known as the Spanish-American war? -- What kind of independence did Cuba gain and what was the Platt amendment? -- What were the early years of Cuban independence like and how did the Platt amendment impact Cuba's political culture? -- Why does the United States have a naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? -- What was the political climate out of which Fulgencio Batista first emerged? -- How did Cuban politics and US-Cuban relations evolve between 1934 and 1952? -- What were the origins of the Cuban revolution? How did it succeed? -- What role did women play in the Cuban insurrection? -- How did race relations figure into Cuba's political development during the prerevolutionary period? -- Beyond the realms of politics and economics, how closely intertwined had Cuban and American culture become by the 1950s? -- Cuban Revolution And The Cold War, 1959-91 -- Domestic -- Why did the Batista regime collapse? -- What was so special about Fidel Castro? -- What did the Communist party have to do with it all and were the Soviets involved? -- After Fidel took power, what happened to the other revolutionary groups? -- What did Che Guevara do after 1959? -- What did the first revolutionary cabinet look like? -- Was Castro really a communist? -- So, did communism mean no democracy? -- How did the revolution organize Cuban society? -- Why did Cubans start leaving for exile? -- What kind of backlash was there to the revolution's radicalization? -- What kind of benefits did the revolution deliver and to whom? -- How did race factor into the equation? -- In a notoriously patriarchal society, how did women fare under the revolution? -- What kind of space did the regime allow for intellectuals and artists? -- How did the regime deal with its adversaries in the exile community? -- How did the revolution handle religion? -- Why did the revolution make such a big deal out of sports? -- What about Cuba's human rights record during this period? -- Why did King Sugar continue to dominate Cuba's economy after the revolution? -- What were the main economic features of Cuba's integration with the Soviet bloc? -- What was "rectification"? how did Fidel and Raul Castro view the prospect of market reforms in the 1980s? -- Who was General Arnaldo Ochoa and why was he executed? -- US-Cuba -- Was there ever a chance that the United States would react well to Cuban revolutionaries? -- How much weight did US economic interests have in driving the two countries apart? -- What really happened when Castro visited Washington in 1959? -- Why did the Bay of Pigs invasion fail? -- After the invasion fiasco, did the United States continue covert operations against Cuba and how did the United States involve Cuban exiles? -- What was the Cuban missile crisis? -- How did US attempts to overthrow Castro play inside of Cuba? -- What was the scope of US economic sanctions? -- How successful was the United States in isolating Cuba in the 1960s and into the 1970s? -- What's the story behind the Kissinger/Ford secret diplomacy with Cuba in 1974? -- How did Jimmy Carter's administration approach Cuba? -- What was the Mariel boat lift? -- Why did Reagan toughen up US policy toward Cuba? -- What did Reagan do to crack down on Cuba? -- Who was Jorge Mas Canosa? -- How did the Cuban American national foundation emerge? -- What is Radio Marti? -- Cuba In The World -- Why did Fidel, Che and the other revolutionaries think they would succeed in spreading revolution in the third world? -- What were the basic objectives of the Cuban Revolution's foreign policy? -- Where was Cuba's foreign policy focused during the early years of the revolution and how did Che Guevara fit into the mix? -- How did Latin American governments react to Cuba's armed internationalism? -- How did Cuba's presence in southern Africa evolve? -- What was Cuba's role in the Horn of Africa and the Ethiopia/Somalia conflict? -- How did Cuba's foreign policy in the Middle East evolve? -- How did world events shape Cuba's relationship with the Soviet Union? -- What were the key features of Cuba's involvement in Central America and the Caribbean in the 1980s? --

Cuban Revolution After The Cold War, 1991-2006 -- Domestic -- How did the collapse of the Berlin Wall and dissolution of the Soviet bloc affect Cuba? -- How did Cuba adapt at home to the loss of Soviet subsides and global realignment brought by the Cold War's end? -- Why didn't the regime collapse? -- What were the regime's economic reforms, and why were they so limited? -- What kind of foreign investment began in Cuba, what consequences did this investment bring to the island, and how did authorities respond? -- Did Cuba attempt to emulate any other economic models during this period? -- How did artists manage to pull off such a cultural boom in the 1990s? -- What caused the 1994 balsero refugee crisis? -- How did the Cuban health care system fare in this period? -- How did Cuba cope with HIV/AIDS? -- How did human rights fare more generally during this period? -- What was the Varela project and what is it significance? -- What kind of space did the regime permit for intellectuals, especially those involved in debates over economic reform? -- How did space for organized religion evolve during this period? -- Who was Elian Gonzalez and what was his significance to Cuba and US-Cuban relations? -- How did the Elian Gonzalez affair influence Cuba's domestic politics? -- Does Cuban art and music provide an arena and space for critical expression? -- US-Cuba -- How did the United States react to the end of the Soviet era in Cuba? -- What was the Cuban democracy act, who was behind it, and what did the law intend to accomplish? -- How did the United States and Cuba resolve the 1994 refugee crisis? -- How did Cuban American activists and members of Congress react to these agreements? -- Was a broader US opening toward Cuba in the cards? -- What was Brothers to the rescue, and why did Cuba shoot down two of its planes? -- How did the United States respond? -- How did Cuba respond to Helms-Burton? -- After the dust settled from the shoot-down and Helms-Burton, how did Cuba policy take shape during Bill Clinton's second term? -- How did the death of Jorge Mas Conosa affect the Cuban American community? -- How did the Elain Gonzalez episode affect the end of the Clinton presidency, the 2000 presidential election, and the Cuban American community? -- How did September 11, 2001, attacks affect US-Cuban relations? -- Why is Cuba still on the State department's list of state sponsors of terrorism? -- Who are the "Cuban five?" -- Was Castro a target of assassination attempts during this period, and what efforts were made to prosecute their authors? -- What were the main features of US policy toward Cuba under George W Bush and how did Cuba respond? -- Cuba In The World -- How did Cuba adapt its foreign policy to the end of the Cold War? -- How did relations with Europe and Canada help Cuba survive after the Soviet collapse? -- How did Cuba use its long-cultivated clout at the United Nations? -- How did Cuba relate to Latin America in a newly democratic environment? -- What did Cuba have to do with the election of Left/populist governments in the region, especially in the Andes? -- What is the scope of Cuba's relationship with Venezuela and Hugo Chavez? -- What were the main features of Cuba's integration into the world economy after the Cold War? -- How did Cuba react to the war in Iraq? -- After Fidel, Under Raul -- Domestic -- How did the Cuban government deal with Fidel Castro's illness in 2006? -- What happened in the immediate aftermath of the announcement of Fidel's illness? -- Who is Raul Castro and why was he chosen to succeed Fidel? -- How did Cuba's provisional leadership respond as the reality of Fidel's absence took hold? -- How was Raul Castro elected president of Cuba? -- Since becoming president, what has Raul done and how have the Cubans reacted? -- How has public discourse and debate evolved under the presidency of Raul Castro? -- Will there be any political reform? -- Can Cuba's successor government open up economically without promoting unmanageable political strife? -- What is Fidel's role since he stepped down from the presidency? -- US-Cuba -- How did the United States react to the news of Fidel turning over provisional power? -- Has Raul Castro taken a different approach to the United States than his brother Fidel? -- Once a stable succession was evident, how did the US government adjust its view of Cuba? -- How has the Cuban American community reacted to Fidel's illness and Raul's assumption of the presidency? -- How did Cuba play in the 2008 presidential primaries and general election? -- What might be expected from the Obama White House in its policy toward Cuba? -- Cuba In The World -- Did the succession arouse any changes in Cuba's foreign relations? -- What are the principal features of Cuba's ties with Latin America today? -- Has Cuba expanded its ties with Russia, China, and Iran? -- What is the status of Cuba's deep-water oil exploration and what foreign governments and companies are involved? -- Has the European Union moved closer to Cuba since Fidel stepped aside? -- How extensive is Cuba's cultural projection-music, art, film, literature-on the global stage? -- Suggested reading -- Index.