how have interactions between Cuba, the U. S., and other nations had a significant impact on one another and on global events

The U. S.-Cuba relationship has been plagued by distrust and antagonism since 1959, the year Fidel Castro overthrew a U. S.-backed regime in Havana and established a socialist state allied with the Soviet Union. During the half century that followed, successive U. S. administrations pursued policies intended to isolate the island country economically and diplomatically. Indeed, the United States has sanctioned Cuba longer than any other country.

In recent years, Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro, who replaced his brother as Cuban leader in 2008, took some extraordinary steps to normalize bilateral relations: meeting each other, restoring full diplomatic ties, and easing travel restrictions, among others. However, it remains unclear if the Donald J. Trump administration will continue the détente, and whether the Republican-controlled U. S. Congress will lift the decades-old trade embargo.