“Flashbacks” of the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis in the U.S.-Cuban relations 60 years later

Abstract

The paper analyzes the impact of the Cuban Missile crisis on today’s US-Cuban relations. Of course, the scale and historical significance of this event is so great that it simply could not have failed to leave its mark and to affect the further development of the conflict between the United States and Cuba. However, with a more explicit focus, the impact of the 1962 Missile crisis is reflected not in those aspects that are conventionally talked about, but in more fundamental (albeit short-lived) manifestations. In very general terms, the main legacy of the Caribbean crisis is manifested in the irrational, difficult-to-explain desire of a large part of the American establishment, commonly referred to as the neoconservatives (“hawks”), to tighten the sanctions policy against the Island, although the normalization of the US-Cuban relations is dictated by seeming common sense. Moving to full normalization and allowing the setting up of regular trade and economic ties, showing generosity and goodwill, the United States would find itself in a much better position. By repeatedly imposing harsh economic sanctions that do not lead to a resolution of the conflict, but have a detrimental effect on the standard of living of ordinary citizens, Washington exposes itself in a very unsightly light.