Political Judo Or Just Good Ol' Dipomacy? Turning Potential Discord On Cuba Into An Asset At The SOA

[Median Democrat]

On the one hand, Obama's overtures towards Cuba are not a complete surprise. If you recall back in early 2008, John McCain was bashing Barack Obama for taking a soft stance on Cuba by promising to engage Cuba. In so doing, John McCain tried to cater to Florida's Cuban American population by promising not to engage with Cuba unless a long series of preconditions were met.

However, consider the timing and choreagraphy of Obama's recent outreach towards Cuba, as well as how Obama managed to turn the issue of Cuba's absense from the Summit of the Americas into an advantage of the Summit. By taking steps towards engaging Cuba just as other countries were planning to demonize the U.S. for its hypocritcal hardline on Cuba, President Obama put other nations in a put up or shut up mode. The Latin American countries were planning to make a big stink about Cuba's absense from the Summit. Hugo Chavez had already previously dissed President Obama much earlier. However, by making some outeach toward Cuba, the other countries, including Cuba had to put up or shut up.

In other words, if Cuba then rejected President Obama's offers of engagement, then Cuba, not the U.S., would then look like the bad guy for insisting on remaining isolated from the United States. Likewise, Hugo Chavez who made a living on blasting the U.S. for refusing to acknowledge Cuba, would also look foolish if he denounced or rejected the U.S.'s outreach towards Cuba. Cuba and Venezuela would have looked liked the isolationists, not the United States.

So, there's a new administration in the White House. Rather than get played on Cuba, the United States stole the initiative, and forced other countries to put up or shut up by taking the wind out of the anti-American rhetoric. I had almost forgotten what it was like for the United States to have diplomatic juice, rather than resorting to blunt threats of force.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/world/americas/18prexy.html?hp

/snip

Other leaders here said that in watching Mr. Obama extend his hand to Cuba, they felt they were witnessing a historic shift. And in another twist, Cuba’s strongest ally at the summit, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, no fan of the United States, was photographed at the meeting giving Mr. Obama a hearty handclasp and a broad smile.

Cuba is not on the official agenda here; indeed, Cuba, which has been barred from the Organization of American States since 1962, is not even on the guest list. But leaders in the hemisphere have spent months planning to make Cuba an issue here.

The White House was well aware that if Mr. Obama did not address it head on, the issue would overwhelm the rest of the summit gathering. This week, the president opened the door to the discussions by abandoning longstanding restrictions on the ability of Cuban-Americans to travel freely to the island and send money to relatives there.

/snip

[FrenchieCat]

1. Checkmate!

[EFerrari]

2. These two writers are sort of humorous because they can't imagine

a conversation among equals, only power plays. They make the whole thing sound like an adversarial game and not a negotiation among grown ups. They sound like they're twelve.

[Median Democrat]

3. Its Condescending To Refer To Leaders Who Said They "were witnessing a historic shift" As Children

I agree with your point that the Bush admistration's approach of isolation was childish. However, I do think it is wrong to take for granted the fact that President Obama did the right thing. Likewise, I would not necessarily make light of other leaders referring to the change in approach as a "historic shift." Indeed, such a condesending approach of referring to the leaders who said they were witnessing history displays the same kind of arrogance that we liberals have long condemned in the Bush administration.

[EFerrari]

4. I was referring to the writers of the piece.

:)

[Median Democrat]

5. Ah! Well, Here's A Similar Article In The NYT Focusing On Hillary's Role

I know that Obama and Hillary have taken some heat for dropping some, but not all, of the U.S.'s claims of moral superiority, which the right wing could hypocritically claim even after the release of additional torture memos. It will be interesting to see how this all works out in the years to come.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/world/americas/18diplo.html?ref=americas

[EFerrari]

6. Thanks, Median Democrat. I'll mark this to read tomorrow.

I didn't mean to sound flip about how flip these two were about a situation that affects so many so intimately. Cuba has a hard time getting medical supplies and even parts for medical machines. To read that being trivialized into some kind of goofy contest is a little disconcerting. Or, maybe I'm just a grump. lol :)