The Obama administration’s decision to chart a new diplomatic course with its Cold War foe in Havana has been plodding and slow.

Critics of rapprochement have pointed to the Castro brothers’ belligerency and still defiant tone as evidence that the nation that once tried to facilitate a nuclear missile 90 miles off the Florida coast has changed little. Also central to assessments of the potential dangers of Cuba is its ongoing relationship with North Korea through trade and high-level meetings— most recently on August 13th.