Established as America's first foreign naval base following the Spanish-American War; Guantánamo is now more often thought of as our Devil's Island; the gulag of our times. This book takes readers beyond the orange-jumpsuited detainees of today's headlines to provide the first comprehensive history of Guantánamo from its origins to the present. Occupying 45 square miles of land and sea; Guantánamo has for more than a century symbolized the imperial impulse within U.S. foreign policy; and its occupation is decried by Cuba as a violation of international law—even though a treaty legally grants the U.S. a lease in perpetuity. Stephen Schwab now describes the base's role in American; Caribbean; and global history; explaining how it came to be; why it's still there; and how it continues to serve a variety of purposes.Schwab views the base's creation as part of a broad U.S. strategy of annexations; protectorates; and limited interventions devised to create a strong sphere of influence in the western Atlantic. He charts its history from this early belief that it would prevent European powers from staking imperial claims in the Caribbean and examines the crucial defensive role that Guantánamo played as a convoy hub for strategic goods during World War II. He then looks at clashes over Guantánamo during the Cold War; culminating in LBJ's decision to make the base independent by firing Cuban workers and building a desalinization plant. Schwab also fleshes out Guantánamo’s ongoing roles as the U.S. Navy’s lone forward base in the Caribbean; providing refueling for U.S. and allied ships; as a Coast Guard station engaged in search-and-rescue missions and counternarcotics operations; and as a U.S. facility for processing undocumented aliens. Even though the Castro government persistently protests America's presence—and refuses even to bank the rent that the U.S. dutifully pays—Guantánamo remains the only place where diplomatic exchanges between the two countries occur; and Schwab documents how the facility has served mutual interests as both a point of nationalistic frictions and a center for diplomatic compromise. By presenting Guantánamo’s story within its broader historical framework; his book gives readers a greater appreciation of America's true stake in this controversial Caribbean outpost.
#71454 in Books 2000-04-11Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.90 x .70 x 6.00l; 1.16 #File Name: 0700611827352 pages
Review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Superb account of religious intolerance in AmericaBy sh05squaredPowerful history of a dark and disturbing; yet little remembered; incident of religious intolerance in America's not-too-distant past. Author Shawn Francis Peters recounts the persecution of a small; harmless; almost universally disliked group of Christians during the 1930's and 40's; when hyperpatriotism and war hysteria caused average Americans to persecute Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the country. The Witnesses suffered savage physical abuse; incarceration; loss of employment; homes and businesses; and expulsion from schools due to their unpopular religious beliefs and actions.This is a scholarly; yet highly readable account of the persecution and the groundbreaking reaction of the Witnesses as they and their allies; chiefly the ACLU; battled the injustices heaped upon them by fighting back in the courts; with many of their cases reaching the Supreme Court.Not a Witness; Peters brings an unbiased eye to the subject. While not necessarily agreeing with their doctrines or aggressive proselytizing activities; the author has nothing but admiration for the courage and fortitude of the Witnesses throughout their ordeals; and for the tenacity with which they fought for justice through an often hostile legal system.The book contains hundreds of citations from an impressive array of sources; including the Witnesses' own publications; interviews of individuals who suffered from the persecution; court documents; information from ACLU archives; newspapers; magazines; and legal journals.Peters notes that while fighting primarily to obtain relief for themselves from persecution; the Witnesses forced the Supreme Court to focus on basic human rights as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution; thus benefitting future civil rights movements; and indeed; all AmericansThis is a splendid book; a must-read for anyone interested in law; Constitutional history; the Supreme Court; religious freedom in America; and civil rights movements.7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Judging Jehovah's Witnesses by Shawn Francis PetersBy MacademiaI believe the author did an excellent job of writing about Jehovah's Witnesses and perceiving them as the human beings they are. It is most challenging for an author to fairly and justfully write an historical account of a group of people who could be catagorized as one of the most hated religions on the face of the earth. Jehovah's Witnesses are the first to recognize this in quoting scriptures such as John 15:19 and many others. (Jehovah's Witnesses are still suffering horrendous and brutal persecution in many countries around the world.) There is not so much neutrality in Peters' writing as to not express fellow feeling for a people suffering horrific physical and psychological brutality. At the same time there is not so much favor or bias towards Jehovah's Witnesses so as to cover over their human foibles. The story is an important one to tell well and without prejudice. Peters has achieved this. This is a courageous story of faith and the fight for the freedoms of religion and speech; securing these for all Americans through decisions of the Supreme Court. This paved the way for the Civil Rights Era to come soon after. This is also enlightening historical research. History doesn't change but how we interpret it can change. There are a few good lessons emphasized in this story. A couple are; "Do not judge lest ye be judged." (not directly quoted in the book) and any time we dehumanize another group of people (societally speaking) danger follows and any time we dehumanize another group of people; we are dehumanizing ourselves.I encourage my students to study a group of people with whom they have negatives issues. I encourage them to find how the group perceives themselves and how they interpret the world around them without outsiders' interpretations and judgement (to develop an ethnography). In doing so with the goals of developing tolerance for differences; for the student to learn more about themselves and how they think by finding out how others view them; to find what is human by seeking human universals and to also overcome the fears of the unknown. Although this book was not written by one of Jehovah's Witnesses; I do believe there are enough facts and interviews with Jehovah's Witnesses that it could be used for the purpose of gaining a better understanding of a group of people little understood by the world at large. Not only might you re-think Jehovah's Witnesses but you just might re-think how you think.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Unexpected DetailsBy Dave NRather than discusing the pros and cons of the Witnesses' stance on flag salute and serving in the military he gets into the details of the legal cases and how they were decided. It is apparent from the outset that the author disagrees with the Witness stance; but he does not let that unduly colour his discussion of the issues and lends weight to his unbisased reporting of how the Jehovah's Witnesses were treated during the 1930s and 1940s.One unexpected benefit was the insights he brought to how the supreme court handles cases. He also shows the important place that the judiciary has in our society where it is essentially the only brake that can be applied to poor judgment on the part of legislators. Along with this he shows how court cases decided upon by the supreme court impact all of us.For those who like to see the source material the author did a fine job of referencing his sources and adding extraneous material in the footnotes.All in all; I found it a fair and balanced reporting of this period of our collective history shows how much we owe to Jehovah's Witnesses for the amount of freedom that we enjoy due to their many court victories.
