CUBA IN THE CROSSHAIRS: Empire, Ideology, and the Next Caribbean Crisis (Strategic Analyses Concerning Planet Earth)

Ninety miles from Florida, history may be preparing to accelerate again.For more than five centuries, Cuba has occupied a position far larger than its geography suggests. From the arrival of Christopher Columbus and the destruction of indigenous societies to the rise of sugar plantations, slavery, revolution, Cold War confrontation, and modern great-power rivalry, the island has repeatedly stood at the crossroads of empire and resistance.Now, as tensions between the United States, China, Russia, and the Global South intensify, Cuba is once again emerging as a strategic flashpoint in the Western Hemisphere.In CUBA IN THE CROSSHAIRS, geopolitical analyst Conan Taggert delivers a sweeping and deeply researched investigation into the forces that shaped Cuba’s past—and the dangerous scenarios that could shape its future.Blending historical depth with modern strategic analysis, this book explores:The indigenous Taíno world before European conquestSpain’s colonial order and the rise of the sugar economySlavery, Afro-Cuban identity, and revolutionary consciousnessBatista’s dictatorship and Castro’s revolutionThe Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile CrisisIntelligence operations, embargo politics, and Cold War brinkmanshipThe geopolitical importance of the Florida StraitsChina’s growing influence in the CaribbeanRussia’s strategic calculations in the Western HemisphereDomestic political pressures inside the United StatesA chilling seven-day war-game simulation of a modern Cuba crisisThe “Cuba Shock Doctrine” and the future of global orderNeither ideological manifesto nor simplistic condemnation, CUBA IN THE CROSSHAIRS offers a nuanced examination of power, sovereignty, resistance, and imperial ambition in an increasingly unstable world.This is not merely the story of Cuba, but rather the story of competing empires, collapsing certainties, and the return of geopolitical confrontation to the Americas.Perfect for readers seeking to understand how history, geography, and power continue to shape the twenty-first century. Read more