This study examines Cuba’s role in the two southern African countries of Angola and Namibia during the Cold War period. It argues that Cuba’s ideological motivations have been embodied in the mutually reinforcing concepts of proletarian internationalism and anti-imperialism. These conceptual perspectives constitute some of the central variables that influence Cuba’s foreign policy behaviour in international relations. It is within this context that one can understand Cuba’s involvement in Southern Africa. This study also attempts to explain that Cuban foreign policy towards Africa was based on two complementary and contextual objectives namely, promoting nationalism at home and nurturing revolutionary Marxist-Leninist governments, as well as supporting anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements abroad. For the purpose of achieving these foreign policy objectives, Cuba not only engaged in state-to-state relations with Angola and Namibia; but had cordial relations with the rest of the continent and in particular Southern Africa, which also became a direct military testing ground for Cuba’s commitment to an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist revolutionary stance. Furthermore, the thesis shows that Cuba’s relentless hatred of imperialism is rooted in its historical relationship with the United States because from the turn of the century till 1958, the Americans interfered in Cuba’s internal affairs by supporting corrupt administrations and exploited the country. These practices by the United States laid the foundation for Cuba’s anti-colonialism and antiimperialism abroad. Ultimately, this thesis shows that Cuban involvement in Angola and Namibia can be conceptualised within these contexts (anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, proletarian internationalism and revolutionary Marxism-Leninism). The role of Cuban nationalism in the realisation of these objectives and ideals, as well as its role in perpetuating and consolidating her foreign policy is assessed in this study. This nationalism and ideals of internationalism constitutes the central idea in the Cuban revolution. Finally, this thesis asserts that Cuban motives for getting involved in the politics of Southern Africa were not motivated by economic or imperialistic reasons. Rather, the historical similarity and colonial experiences between Africa and Cuba were some of the central causal factors.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1966 M824 / Master of Science

In the post-cold war era, debate has been renewed regarding the United States' foreign policy towards Cuba. One aspect of this debate concerns the link between U.S. policy and prospects for future democratisation in Cuba. The thesis examines three theories ("squeeze", "communication" and "normalization"), which suggest that either increasing or decreasing economic and diplomatic ties with Cuba will encourage prospects for democratisation. The paper assesses the validity of these theories by using a theoretical framework to explain regime legitimacy, and considers which policy offers the greatest potential for regime change. Next, the paper looks at the current Cuban political and economic environment to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Castro regime. To conclude, the author suggests that the current U.S. policy of opposing trade and diplomatic links with Cuba will have a counter-productive effect in encouraging democratisation.

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Cuba's role in Africa in the 1970s has been the subject of numerous and diverse interpretations. Students of Cuban politics sometimes tend to take a general view of Cuban policy toward Angola, and so important differences between each issue or situation are overlooked. This study offers separate accounts of the role of Cuba in Africa and in Ethiopia since 1975, with the purpose of exploring the possibility of an influence relationship between Moscow and Havana. Influence analysis is an extremely subjective task. That is, it appears to be virtually impossible to document Soviet influence on Cuba. Nevertheless, it remains possible to examine available evidence with respect to each situation, and then to construct what appears to be the most coherent argument regarding the possibility of Soviet influence on Cuba. I shall conclude that the body of evidence suggests that Cuba did not intervene in Angola chiefly to conform to Soviet preferences or interests. In this sense then, Cuba probably was not influenced by the Soviets to any great degree with respect to the Angolan episode. In contrast, Cuba's role in each of the two Ethiopian incidents seems to exemplify the rather strong possibility of Soviet influence on Cuba. Further, it appears probable that the Soviets influenced Cuba through diplomatic persuasion with regard to the two Ethiopian incidents. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

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Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Over the last decade the Catholic Church in Cuba has experienced a changing relationship with the Castro regime. The Church, it seems, has been able to find more space within which to operate despite the historically significant decades of repression after the 1959 Revolution. The Papal Visit of 1998 further enhanced this growth of the Church in Cuban society and acted as an accelerator of positive change. This thesis examines Church-State relations in Cuba from an international, domestic, and individual perspective focusing mainly on events leading up to and after the Papal visit. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

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On 24 February 1996, two US-registered civil aircraft operated by members of the anti-Castro organisation Brothers to the Rescue were shot down by Cuban fighters. This action was denounced by the United States and the majority of the international community on the grounds that international air law, as reflected in Article 3bis of the Chicago Convention, prohibits the use of force against civil aircraft. However, at the time of the incident, the 1984 Protocol introducing Article 3bis in the Chicago Convention was not in force nor had it been ratified by Cuba or the United States. This thesis will examine the international legal rules applicable to the incident and will assess the legality of the Cuban action.

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