CE with respect to Cuba
Hope everyone can jump on the CE = Constructive Engagement abbreviation, I think it will help flowing a lot this year =)
Tariq, in response to an earlier post on CE, pointed out this article (available on the JSTOR database if your school has access) The United States and Cuba: From a Strategy of Conflict to Constructive Engagement by Donald E. Schulz. I was able to get a copy and here are some interesting quotations
Constructive Engagement with Cuba would lessen the threat from the US
Schulz, 1993
(Donald E., Associate Research Professor of National Security Policy at the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College. The United States and Cuba: From a Strategy of Conflict to Constructive Engagement Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), pp. 81-102)A policy of constructive engagement, designed to lower tensions and open up Cuba to US influence, would pose major problems for the regime. Among other things, it would undermine the rationale for the garrison state and make political and social control that much more difficult. Such a strategy would seek to dissolve the siege mentality that justifies the regime’s repression; it would flood the island with ideas and information and subject Cubans to alterna- tive political and social values and lifestyles. There is nothing more potentially subversive to such regimes than the exposure to democratic ideas and materialistic temptations. The more contact Cubans have with Western values, the more their appetites would be whetted and the more difficult it will be for Castro to convince people of the desirability of maintaining the status quo. If, in addition, this can be done in a way that does not threaten the Cuban elite with extinction, it may just be possible to facilitate a peaceful transition to a more open society.
Constructive Engagement builds relationships
Schulz, 1993
(Donald E., Associate Research Professor of National Security Policy at the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College. The United States and Cuba: From a Strategy of Conflict to Constructive Engagement Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), pp. 81-102)A second group of proposals would seek to go beyond a mere lowering of tensions and begin the more ambitious and difficult process of building a positive relationship and fostering
constructive change. What is involved here are the basic elements of what might be termed a “communications strategy” (Gunn, 1990: 132-150; Gonzalez and Ronfeldt, 1992: 71-77). This would emphasize the promotion of person-to-person contacts between US and Cuban citizens via mail, telephone and transportation services, tourism, scientific and cultural exchanges, the establish- ment of press bureaus, and the like. One of the weaknesses in the current policy of isolation and economic strangulation is that it has not taken advantage of important opportunities to promote an increasingly free flow of ideas and information. To allow US citizens – especially tourists – to travel in the island in large numbers would benefit the Cuban economy.
Loss of Soviet Lifeline changed the historical debate on Cuba policy
Schulz, 1993
(Donald E., Associate Research Professor of National Security Policy at the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College. The United States and Cuba: From a Strategy of Conflict to Constructive Engagement Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Summer, 1993), pp. 81-102)On the other hand, I would argue that, due to the current crisis, constructive engagement now has a better chance of working than ever before. Previous proposals to “soften” US policy have always suffered from the fact that Castro had an attractive alternative to coming to terms with the United States: so long as the Soviet Union was willing to subsidize his economic blunders and foreign adventures, his rigidity and defiance cost him little. That is no longer the case, however. Cuba has lost its economic lifeline and now stands alone and vulner- able.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
There are actual definitions in the paper by Biza and Colin which will help in that they are not field contextual and do not rely on effects as much as these excerpts. Thanks for typing these out!