Confrontation

Confrontation

Summary Article 8

Definition

An argumentative situation or a hostile moment between opposing parties. Some other words that can be used in place of confrontation include clash, conflict, fight or crush (Krieger, 2019).

Article summary

From Confrontation to Negotiation

The article mentioned above is a piece of work that has been compiled by Philip Brenner in his research that has been carried on over the years. Brenner is a senior professor in the US. He specializes in studying foreign policy program, and one of his work is on the US-Cuban relationship and Latin America. His experience in the field of international relations and especially in the relationship between the US and Cuba is one of the reasons why his work is reliable. He has studied the relationship between these countries since 1898, making his work outstanding and unique. The article aimed to find out the sources of confrontation between the US and Cuba and to see whether the current negotiation activities have any positive feedback. Until 2012, Cuba had not shown any signs of any agreement with America to improve the relationship (Brenner, 2019).

Discussion

Indeed, the compilation does not define confrontation but also expounds on the means of ending the fight. As mentioned in the definition section, the encounter is a hostile or argumentative situation between two parties that are in disagreement. In the article by Brenner, the two parties that are involved in the battle are the United States and Cuba. The clash dates back from 1898 when the US declared war in Spain. In the same year, the United States managed to defeat Spain, which gave the United States powers to rule over Cuba. In 1902, Cuba became an independent state with Palma as the first president. However, the Platt Amendment allowed America to intervene the Cuban affairs. Cuba felt that the US was interfering with its internal businesses and Cuba resulted in a rebellion against the US. The presidents that came later were also not happy with the way the US influenced Cuban elections and other nation’s matters (Brenner, 2019). The confrontations have therefore been on and off with US blocking Cubans from travelling to the US and cutting the international relationship. The case of Cuba and America is a good illustration of confrontation and how negotiations are conducted, and sometimes they do not solve the issue.

Confrontation happens in every level starting from individuals, to family to businesses. A battle arises from the difference of ideas, views and beliefs. The case of the US-Cuban confrontation shows that the source of conflict is Cuban feeling that the US is interfering with its political activities. In the same manner, encounter happens in business due to the difference in views maybe between managers, suppliers and employees. The solution to confrontation is a negotiation. However, as shown in the case of the US-Cuban encounter, it is not always a guarantee that negotiations will work. The best way is to keep trying and changing the method of the talks until a solution is found.

References

Krieger, M. (2019). The Tragic Vision: The Confrontation of Extremity. JHU Press.

Brenner, P. (2019). From confrontation to negotiation: US relations with Cuba. Routledge.