Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses US-Cuba relations during the Obama-Raúl Castro years and the steps that both countries took to reach an appeasement (even if with limited outcomes).

Paper long abstract:

President Obama, few weeks before he took office, was described as the most open-minded candidate toward Cuba, as he wanted to set out a dialogue with the Cuban regime of Raúl Castro. During his first term, some signs of appeasement materialized, but his first intention failed, as the US underestimted Cuban reforms, while other issues (such as the arrest of Alan Gross) generated a rising tensions between the two countries. In other words, Obama followed Clinton's stance over Cuba (using new tools of the people-to-people diplomacy), confirming the White House linkages with the (changing) Cuban-American community of South Florida. On the contrary, Carter's state-to-state diplomacy has being partly neglected. For these reasons, Raúl's reforms are not going to change US stance over the island and its regime and Obama's openings to Cuba wwere very limited and cosmetic.