Autumn 2021 Seminars at the University of Buckingham

The IISC and University of Buckingham Humanities Research Institute have arranged for two experts to speak on the topics of the Cuban economy and the nature of the Cuban political system. Please join us either in person or online.

By Stephen Wilkinson

Cuba and the US: Two narratives and an impending disaster?

Now that the dust is settling on the events in Cuba over Sunday 11 and Monday 12 July, details are beginning to emerge that give us a clearer idea of what actually happened. What is interesting and concerning is the way the Cuban Press has been painstakingly unpicking the events and presenting the Cuban people with a completely alternative narrative to that which is being circulated and repeated in the United States and which, it appears the government in Washington accepts. Both cannot be right and the truth may not lay in between. What is required is a level-headed appraisal and evaluation of the effect of both stories upon their respective audiences. Unfortunately, once again, ideological bias, mistrust and, it has to be said, irrationality and hatred are the enemies of making good policy. The matter is serious, for such is the balance of forces in the debate in the United States that a military intervention in Cuba is now more likely than it has been since the Missile Crisis of 1962.

By Marcel Kunzmann and Stephen Wilkinson

Update on the happenings in Cuba #1

On Saturday 17 July, six days after the disturbances and small street protests that captivated news media across the world, some 100,000 Cubans gathered outside of the American Embassy on the Malecon seafront in Havana to express their support for the Cuban revolutionary government. Similar gatherings were arranged in every city across the island. The world’s media largely ignored the events as they occurred but images shared on social media showed citizens of all ages and considerable numbers of young people expressing their support for the socialist government peacefully.

By Marcel Kunzmann and Stephen Wilkinson

Events in Cuba- What happened?

The events in Cuba on Sunday and Monday of July 11-12 have been widely reported in the media and have been the subject of intense activity on social media. This article has been compiled by a member of the IISC, Marcel Kunzmann and  Stephen Wilkinson. It is summary of the events as we understand them to be and is a fair and honest assessment of the situation that we can make at this time.

Fully guided - nine nights

Tour Cuba with an IISC expert and the University of Buckingham

Following two successful tours in 2018 and 2019, the Department of Politics at the University of Buckingham is once again offering this study visit to Cuba led by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, who lectures on Latin American and Cuban Politic. Steve is Editor of the International Journal of Cuban Studies and the Director of International Institute for the Study of Cuba. Steve has been visiting Cuba since 1987, holds a PHD in Cuban Literature and has led more than twenty study tours to the island.

University provides base for the Institute

IISC locates to University of Buckingham 

The University of Buckingham has joined forces with the International Institute for the Study of Cuba to further research, academic cooperation and an evidence-based understanding of Cuba, its history, politics and culture.