Guantánamo: An American History

Guantánamo Bay, Cuba has been central to American imperial strategy for over two centuries, long before it became known as a detention facility. Jonathan M. Hansen traces this complete history, beginning with the bay's role in colonial expansion plans under Lawrence Washington, half brother of George Washington, and continuing through Thomas Jefferson's vision of an "empire of liberty" dependent on U.S. control of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean waters. When Cuba rebelled against Spanish rule in 1898, the United States intervened to secure control of Guantánamo Bay. Over the following century, the American navy developed the bay into a residential community with bungalows, cul-de-sacs, and country clubs for base personnel. Today, Guantánamo represents both American idealism and arrogance in foreign policy. While the Obama administration attempted to close the prison facility, the naval base remains operational. Hansen argues that such locations, existing outside clear legal and sovereign boundaries, continue to serve strategic purposes regardless of which political leaders hold power.