Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976
Gleijeses (Sch. of Advanced International Studies at Johns  Hopkins Univ.; Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the  United States, 1944-1954) offers a Cold War study not of two  superpowers but of Third World policy in Third World countries.  This book looks at U.S. and Cuban foreign policies in Africa, a  continent generally ignored by American foreign policymakers but  highly important to Castro's Cuba. In examining small  engagements in Algeria and Guinea-Bissau, as well as larger  engagements in Zaire and Angola, Gleijeses argues that, contrary  to American belief, Cuba did not merely act as a Soviet pawn in  Africa but pursued its own interests. Castro viewed Africa as an  important battleground to combat "capitalist imperialism,"  usually contrary to Soviet policies. Gleijeses conducted  extensive research in writing this book, including gaining  unprecedented access to Cuban archival material and oral  histories. There is little material available on Cuban-African  relations, and nothing this comprehensive. Recommended for  academic libraries. Mike Miller, Dallas P.L.Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.