Cigar socialism: an entangled history of Yugoslav-Cuban relations

The history of the Non-Aligned Movement is marked by a seemingly irreconcilable fracture: that between Yugoslavia and Cuba. Both countries aspired to gain leadership in it, while advocating for very different visions of socialist internationalism. Underneath the surface of strained diplomatic relations, however, lay a seabed of prolific economic cooperation between Yugoslav and Cuban enterprises. Propelling this exchange was a question fundamental to the non-aligned economic strategy: how to achieve economic de-colonisation and self-reliance without compromising aspirations to global integration. Based on new research findings, this article analyses economic non-alignment as a balancing act between integration and self-sufficiency.