Detailed case studies of conflicts in the Caribbean Basin (including Central America) and Southern Africa provide insights into the origins and the eventual resolution of Third World strife and instability. Each region provides raw material for in-depth evaluations of the superpowers' roles in fueling conflicts and, more recently, in helping to wind down long-standing wars. The authors also examine the respective positions of the regional hegemons, Cuba and South Africa, and the influence of nonstate actors. Similarities between the two regions emerge, in particular the extent to which internal factors (poverty, ethnic troubles, the legacy of colonialism) are at the root of conflicts and remain a continuing threat to future stability, in spite of warming East-West relations. The book includes prescriptions for U.S. policy.

Thomas G. Weiss is Presidential Professor of Political Science at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. James G. Blight is senior research fellow with Brown University's Center for Foreign Policy Development, where he directs the Cuban Missile Crisis project. He is the author of On the Brink and The Shattered Crystal Ball.