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🇨🇺🇷🇺 From a historical point of view, Russia and Cuba are really "comrades-in-arms".

They are connected by a military and political experience which many consider the height of the Cold War - the Cuban Missile crisis, which so often pops up in journalists’ discussions about the current situation in the world.

In this regard, only the relations between Russia and North Korea or Vietnam are comparable in terms of the strength of the common historical experience, but the Cuban case is truly exceptional. For all the seriousness of the involvement of the USSR in the Korean or Vietnamese conflicts, it was precisely the consolidation of Moscow in Cuba that became an existential challenge for their common enemy, the United States.

The anti-Americanism of Cuban foreign policy is a product of its own assessment of its geopolitical position and the associated features of participation in world affairs. Trying to use Cuba for tactical purposes is not only immoral (Moscow is well aware of this), but also pointless. But where our approaches coincide, and this is, in fact, the main issue of modern world politics, one can be calm about the fate of bilateral relations, writes Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/cuba-an-old-friend-in-the-new-world/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #Cuba

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🇨🇺 Cuba has been living under a US embargo since the early 1960s. With scarce natural resources, but a lot of creativity, the country not only managed to face economic isolation, but also developed some top-tier specialisations.

The West-sponsored Ukraine-related sanctions-regime has converted Russia into the most-sanctioned country in world history. With a little less than 15,000 sanctions against its individuals, entities and institutions, Russia ranks first in the global ranking of sanctions-hit countries, with Iran far behind in second place – with about 4,000 sanctions.

To understand the uniqueness of the Ukraine crisis-related sanctions-regime, all that is needed is a comparison: as of March 2023, Russia was dealing with almost 15,000 sanctions, while the world's seven most sanctioned economies totalled approximately 11,500 sanctions. 

Russia and likeminded countries have a lot to learn in their quest for greater economic autonomy from the successes and failures of players from every era. Now is the time to draw lessons from the country that survived the world’s longest embargo: Cuba, writes Emanuel Pietrobon.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/building-a-resistance-economy-lessons-from-cuba/

#EconomicStatecraft #Cuba #sanctions

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UPD: The livestream is over. The video of the discussion is available via the same link. Stay tuned!

🎥 LIVE: at 16:00 Moscow time (GMT +3), we are starting an expert discussion on the current state of bilateral relations between Russia and Cuba.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239105

#ModernDiplomacy #Cuba

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🇷🇺🇨🇺 Russia, Cuba and ‘Emotional Geography’

On July 6, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the current state of bilateral relations between Russia and Cuba.

💬 Moderator Andrey Sushentsov, Programme Director of the Valdai Club, stressed that Cuba, as during the times of the Cuban Missile Crisis, remains one of the central subjects of world geopolitics. He also noted that Russian-Cuban relations have a long history, and in recent years have received a significant boost.

💬 Dmitry Rozental, acting director of the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences, having examined the history of relations between Russia and Cuba, pointed out that the two countries have always been close to each other. At the same time, Cuba has defended its own principles in international politics. In 2016, Russia experienced a surge of interest in Cuba after the post-Soviet chill. Trade and economic relations intensified at the same time. Today there are two main areas of Russian-Cuban cooperation – energy and infrastructure.

💬 Jose Ramon Cabañas, director of CIPI (Cuba), Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the United States (2012-2021) noted that a lot is changing now – the world is in a transition period. He expressed hope that as a result of these changes, Russian-Cuban ties will become even stronger. Relations between Russia and Cuba have great potential, although this is not the relationship that linked Cuba with the Soviet Union. Recognising the importance of historical ties and historical friendship between the two countries’ peoples, Cabañas noted that in the new world, interaction should be built in a new way.

💬 Italian geopolitical analyst Emanuel Pietrobon argued that Europeans perceive the Cuban issue and in general everything that happens in Latin America as an internal affair of the United States. “We are talking about the so-called ‘emotional geography’ – if the country is far away, then we simply do not see what is happening there,” he explained. At the same time, Pietrobon considers Cuba one of the most important countries in the world from a geostrategic point of view. Its geographical position is such that it is possible to challenge the United States from its territory. That is why the United States has historically always tried to take Cuba under control it in its zone of influence. The Cuban revolution of 1959 broke this “chokehold”, the expert stressed, and now Cuba remains a truly independent country, whose government is guided by national interests.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/russia-cuba-and-emotional-geography/

#ModernDiplomacy #Cuba #RussianArmy

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🇨🇺 Cuba is one of the most important countries in the world; one of the few that can really disturb the sleep of the United States.

Geography makes this island geostrategic and whoever wants to challenge the United States must set foot on it. Dividing Cuba and the United States is a strip of sea that can be flown over in just one hour by plane, which means that the island is the perfect staging ground for  challenging the latter.

Geographical proximity can be a political advantage as well as a political risk, which is why the United States has historically gone to great lengths to gain control of this small island. 

Cuba has a role to play in the current hegemonic struggle between the West and the Rest. Russia and the BRICS should take advantage of its geostrategic and geopolitical position and act accordingly – Cuba's salvation might mean the Multipolar Transition's culmination, writes Emanuel Pietrobon, geopolitical analyst, political consultant and author from Italy.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-strategic-importance-of-cuba/

#EconomicStatecraft #Cuba #geopolitics

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