Pablo Boorsma Mendoza | Universiteit Leiden (original) (raw)
Papers by Pablo Boorsma Mendoza
Peripheral Ideas That Won't Fly?: Eu Foreign Policy Decisions On Cuba And Us Influence (2008-... more Peripheral Ideas That Won't Fly?: Eu Foreign Policy Decisions On Cuba And Us Influence (2008-2010) is part of the 2017 Annual Proceedings of The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy.
This unpublished report for the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands details archival rese... more This unpublished report for the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands details archival research done for partners in Australia to help discover possible locations of two VOC-shipwrecks. Archaeological research is being conducted for the celebration of Dirk Hartog year 2016.
Thesis Chapters by Pablo Boorsma Mendoza
This thesis investigated to what extent the European Union (EU) maintained a unified foreign poli... more This thesis investigated to what extent the European Union (EU) maintained a unified foreign policy towards Cuba independent from US influences, from 2008 until 2016. This main question contained two important aspects: EU unity and independence from the US. Therefore, two equally important sub-questions were formulated. Firstly, Was EU foreign policy making towards Cuba free from US influence? The second sub question was to what extent did unity exist between member states internally and externally on EU foreign policy. This research tried to focus on primary sources, made possible because of a large number US diplomatic communications were leaked by the website Wikileaks.
Relations between the EU and Cuba are quite complicated. Inside the EU member states often disagreed on what the foreign policy towards Cuba should be. Within the EU Spain acted on historical and social ties to its former colony. In contrast, the United States (US) constantly pressured the EU to isolate the island. The special interests of Spain and the US in Cuba made the relations between the EU and Cuba an intricate puzzle. The new developments surrounding Cuba, the lack of research on EU-Cuba relations and since these new developments, scholars’ disagreement on EU independence in foreign policy making towards Cuba, and the lack of studies using primary sources, justified this thesis’ research. The research questions were investigated during two key periods divided into two chapters. These key periods defined EU-Cuban relations since 2008. The first period covered the running up to the Spanish EU presidency from 2008 until the presidency itself in 2010. The second period mostly covered the EU-Cuba negotiations on a bilateral treaty between 2014-2016 and the US-Cuban thaw.
This study found that internal EU unity on Cuba increased throughout the years. Externally, economic opportunities saw member states break rank and disregard EU foreign policy. US influence on EU foreign policy towards Cuba decreased in later years as the EU went ahead independently in successfully seeking normal relations with island, partly in order to secure economic opportunities. In 2016 EU-Cuban relations were on track to become stable and coherent with a unified attitude by member states.
This thesis analyses the appointments, activities, and loyalties of three Dutch consuls in the Sp... more This thesis analyses the appointments, activities, and loyalties of three Dutch consuls in the Spanish port city of Cádiz during the first half of the eighteenth century. It reveals that merchants played an influential role in the appointment of consuls, how consuls participated in commerce, and subsequently explains how this affected their loyalties as part of the Dutch merchant community of Cádiz. This research adds to the increasing body of historiography on new diplomatic history and consular history in particular, which proposes a new manner of researching diplomatic history and therein attributes significant importance to consuls.
Conference Presentations by Pablo Boorsma Mendoza
Cuba in Transition - ASCE 2017, 2017
The leading question of this essay is whether the EU made foreign policy decisions on Cuba free f... more The leading question of this essay is whether the EU made foreign policy decisions on Cuba free from US influence in the years 2008–2010. The research in the essay is partly based on primary sources.
This essay was awarded First Price in the 2017 ASCE Student Prize Competition for graduate students.
Peripheral Ideas That Won't Fly?: Eu Foreign Policy Decisions On Cuba And Us Influence (2008-... more Peripheral Ideas That Won't Fly?: Eu Foreign Policy Decisions On Cuba And Us Influence (2008-2010) is part of the 2017 Annual Proceedings of The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy.
This unpublished report for the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands details archival rese... more This unpublished report for the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands details archival research done for partners in Australia to help discover possible locations of two VOC-shipwrecks. Archaeological research is being conducted for the celebration of Dirk Hartog year 2016.
This thesis investigated to what extent the European Union (EU) maintained a unified foreign poli... more This thesis investigated to what extent the European Union (EU) maintained a unified foreign policy towards Cuba independent from US influences, from 2008 until 2016. This main question contained two important aspects: EU unity and independence from the US. Therefore, two equally important sub-questions were formulated. Firstly, Was EU foreign policy making towards Cuba free from US influence? The second sub question was to what extent did unity exist between member states internally and externally on EU foreign policy. This research tried to focus on primary sources, made possible because of a large number US diplomatic communications were leaked by the website Wikileaks.
Relations between the EU and Cuba are quite complicated. Inside the EU member states often disagreed on what the foreign policy towards Cuba should be. Within the EU Spain acted on historical and social ties to its former colony. In contrast, the United States (US) constantly pressured the EU to isolate the island. The special interests of Spain and the US in Cuba made the relations between the EU and Cuba an intricate puzzle. The new developments surrounding Cuba, the lack of research on EU-Cuba relations and since these new developments, scholars’ disagreement on EU independence in foreign policy making towards Cuba, and the lack of studies using primary sources, justified this thesis’ research. The research questions were investigated during two key periods divided into two chapters. These key periods defined EU-Cuban relations since 2008. The first period covered the running up to the Spanish EU presidency from 2008 until the presidency itself in 2010. The second period mostly covered the EU-Cuba negotiations on a bilateral treaty between 2014-2016 and the US-Cuban thaw.
This study found that internal EU unity on Cuba increased throughout the years. Externally, economic opportunities saw member states break rank and disregard EU foreign policy. US influence on EU foreign policy towards Cuba decreased in later years as the EU went ahead independently in successfully seeking normal relations with island, partly in order to secure economic opportunities. In 2016 EU-Cuban relations were on track to become stable and coherent with a unified attitude by member states.
This thesis analyses the appointments, activities, and loyalties of three Dutch consuls in the Sp... more This thesis analyses the appointments, activities, and loyalties of three Dutch consuls in the Spanish port city of Cádiz during the first half of the eighteenth century. It reveals that merchants played an influential role in the appointment of consuls, how consuls participated in commerce, and subsequently explains how this affected their loyalties as part of the Dutch merchant community of Cádiz. This research adds to the increasing body of historiography on new diplomatic history and consular history in particular, which proposes a new manner of researching diplomatic history and therein attributes significant importance to consuls.
Cuba in Transition - ASCE 2017, 2017
The leading question of this essay is whether the EU made foreign policy decisions on Cuba free f... more The leading question of this essay is whether the EU made foreign policy decisions on Cuba free from US influence in the years 2008–2010. The research in the essay is partly based on primary sources.
This essay was awarded First Price in the 2017 ASCE Student Prize Competition for graduate students.