Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba seals cautious, effective foreign policy

If US foreign policy is the diplomatic equivalent of a super-tanker, Mr Obama has succeeded in turning it around

U.S President Barack Obama is set to make an historic visit to Cuba (Reuters)

President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba, announced on Thursday, puts the seal on a politics of sober, sustained and intelligent engagement which has done much to redeem the reputation of the US abroad – a reputation so sullied by the ill-conceived military adventures of the George W Bush years.

Repeatedly Mr Obama has had the courage to set aside historical resentments and ideological hang-ups, to think the unthinkable, and redraw the diplomatic map not by brute force but sensible calculation.

Last April, as the prospect of a nuclear deal with Iran drew closer, he spelled out the thinking behind his opening to Cuba. “For us to test the possibility that engagement [with Cuba] leads to a better outcome for the Cuban people – there aren’t that many risks for us,” he pointed out. “It’s a tiny little country. It’s not one that threatens our core security interests, and so [there’s no reason not] to test the proposition.”

Similar thinking, with a relaxed attitude towards the predictable rage of American and Israeli hawks, underpinned his courageous and successful pursuit of rapprochement with Iran. Likewise, his willingness to engage with Burma’s generals led directly to the reforms that culminated in November’s general election and the landslide victory of the National League for Democracy.

All these policies have their downsides. Burma’s generals still hold most of the cards, despite the election. Iran’s return to the international community is likely to spur the adventurism of its militias. And historians will long debate the role of America’s withdrawal from Iraq in spurring the growth of Isis. But if US foreign policy is the diplomatic equivalent of a super-tanker, Mr Obama has succeeded in turning it around. It is no mean achievement.