Canada-Cuba relations : the other good neighbor policy /

Written by two Canadian academics--one a Latin American specialist, the other a Canadianist--this study has much to recommend it. The authors have had extensive access to Canadian and Cuban archival sources into the early 1980s. Their story contrasts the Canadian and US ways of dealing with Castro. The Americans tried to isolate or attack him; the Canadians tried to trade with and civilize him and, on occasions, to capitalize on the relationship to tweak the "eagle's" tailfeathers. The "shared hegemon" of the US was the dominant factor for both nations, but because several Canadian governments over the last four decades viewed US policy as irrational, Canadians seized opportunities that arose in a "friendly but not fraternal" relationship with Havana. The authors clearly do not admire Washington's policies, from the Bay of Pigs to Helms-Burton. But their account is weakened by a sometimes credulous attitude to Castro, by misunderstandings (sometimes grotesque misunderstandings) of Canadian policy and personalities, especially in the 1960s, and by the way their primary sources dried up for the recent past. Even so, there is much here for Americans to ponder. The world has changed, Cuba is changing, and only US policy seems frozen. All levels. J. L. Granatstein York University

It is ironic that one of the countries about which North Americans are the most ignorant is Canada, our forgotten neighbor to the north. Thus, this work makes two important contributions: it alleviates that deficiency and provides an excellent analysis and evaluation of Canada's relationship with Cuba. Its most controversial, and well-argued, thesis is that the United States could learn much from their respectful relationship, which might serve as a corrective to the antagonistic U.S.-Cuban pattern since 1959. At the same time, much can be gleaned indirectly about the U.S.-Canadian relationship. An insightful, lucid exploration from post-World War II to the present by two specialists on Cuban and Canadian foreign relations; for academic collections.‘Roderic A. Camp, Latin American Ctr., Tulane Univ., New Orleans (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.