China & Cuba: Biden Repeats Jimmy Carter’s Mistakes

A presidential election looming, a U.S. president determined to cool tensions with the country’s chief great-power rival, and a surprising revelation of that rival’s growing military presence in Cuba. This may read like a summary of the Biden administration’s recent tussles with China, but it could just as easily describe an often-overlooked episode from the Cold War.

In the fall of 1979, President Jimmy Carter was trying to put the final touches on the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II), his signature diplomatic effort to relax tensions with the Soviet Union ahead of the 1980 presidential election. Then, an unwelcome report hit the news that the Soviets had deployed a Red Army brigade complete with offensive weaponry to Cuba. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis had the Soviets made such a bold move in the Western Hemisphere.

About the Author

Roger Zakheim

Roger Zakheim is the director of the Ronald Reagan Institute and the author of the forthcoming Peace Through Strength: How Reagan’s Military Buildup Won the Cold War.

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A presidential election looming, a U.S. president determined to cool tensions with the country’s chief great-power rival, and a surprising revelation of that rival’s growing military presence in Cuba. This may read like a summary of the Biden administration’s recent tussles with China, but it could just as easily describe an often-overlooked episode from the Cold War.

In the fall of 1979, President Jimmy Carter was trying to put the final touches on the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II), his signature diplomatic effort to relax tensions with the Soviet Union ahead of the 1980 presidential election. Then, an unwelcome report hit the news that the Soviets had deployed a Red Army brigade complete with offensive weaponry to Cuba. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis had the Soviets made such a bold move in the Western Hemisphere.