We now know that President Barack Obama’s 2016 itinerary includes a May visit to Vietnam. Whatever else happens as a result, count on this: media comparisons to Cuba. Bill Clinton normalized relations with Vietnam in the 1990s. After a society-splintering war and 50,000 American deaths, Vietnam is now a 21st century, Communist trade-and-investment partner.
Meanwhile, we still have a Cold War-era economic embargo in place with Cuba, as well as less-than-unfettered travel. But Vietnam is on the other side of the world and a buffer or sorts with the problematic Chinese. Cuba is 90 miles away–and it’s still personal.