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Under Obama
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Relations with Cuba
Obama has made modest progress on global nuclear
security and climate change, with plenty more to do in
both. He has engaged with longtime adversaries Cuba
and Iran, producing positive results.
His trip to Cuba in March 2016 brought dramatic changes
in U.S. policy. It signaled the end of Americas 55-year-
long Cold War with Cuba, a development that was
punctuated last week by the death of Fidel Castro.
The visit was widely praised throughout Latin America.
Obama criticized Cubas human rights record, but he
connected with its people. His premise in opening
relations with Cuba was that engagement would bring
about more change than decades of isolation.
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Nuclear Agreements with Iran
The nuclear agreement that the U.S. and five allies reached
with Iran in 2015 was a solid arms control achievement.
Critics argued we shouldnt deal with Iran, but the
Obama administration attacked the most critical
problem Irans march toward nuclear weapons
and negotiated terms that paused Irans quest to
develop a nuclear strike capability.
By design, the agreement did not solve many other
problems with Iran, including its support for the Syrian
government and for insurgents in Iraq and elsewhere in
the Middle East. Efforts to improve American overall
relationship with Iran have proven to be disappointing.
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Climate Change Agreement/ Afghanistan and
Middle East
Obama also made progress on the environment. The 2015
Paris agreement on climate change has been signed by
over 100 nations, including the United States, China and
India, the three largest producers of greenhouse gases. If
fully implemented, it should substantially curb
greenhouse emissions over the next 15 years.
The president has had some notable missteps, however. He
did not clearly, forcefully and patiently articulate
Americas role in the world to the American people. His
surge of 60,000 troops in Afghanistan has not worked,
with the Taliban resurgent and controlling more
territory, and with no end in sight to the fighting. His
initiatives in Egypt, Syria, Libya and Iraq and his efforts
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to counter the rise of the Islamic State have fallen short.
Relations with Russia
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Conclusion
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Donald Trump Foreign Policy
Assumptions and Actions
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The administration appears still to be divided by
competing views about the U.S. role in the world.
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A study by RAND corporation shows what are considered
as the hardest foreign policy problems the U.S. is likely
to face during this administration and the next. Some
problems, like North Korea's ballistic missile tests and
the Syrian chemical attack, are already testing the new
administration. Others, like climate change, a larger
Middle East crisis, China's outward ambitions or
Vladimir Putin's provocations, could muscle their way
onto the president's agenda at the most inconvenient
moment.
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