Foreign Policy Experts Call for Engagement with Cuba

The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft has published a report urging the Trump administration to adopt a new Cuba policy based on “pragmatic engagement.”

The report, which compiles the views of scholars, opinion leaders and foreign policy specialists, was coordinated by William LeoGrande, professor of government at American University, and Geoff Thale, former head of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).

The experts touch on the different ways in which current U.S. policy against Cuba is counterproductive for U.S. national interests. It argues current U.S. policy toward Cuba:

• Gives U.S. rivals (especially China and Russia) free range to invest in and influence an island 90 miles from U.S. shores

• Hurts U.S. diplomacy around the world

• Reduces cooperation on counternarcotics and law enforcement

• Undermines U.S. influence in Cuban society

As an alternative, LeoGrande and Thale propose reengaging with the Cuban government, ending extraterritorial sanctions, and loosening travel restrictions, among other measures that would amount to a complete reversal of U.S. policy over the past eight years.