Everything you wanted to learn about the true meaning of EU's advocacy of soft power can be found by looking at its treatment of Cuba. It suspended relations with the tyrant when he arrested 75 dissidents and restored them after they freed 14. Havel tried to explain to the EU that dictators do not respond to appeasement but while Bush listened to Sharansky, the Europeans mostly ignored Havel. Read "EU policy would have further marginalized opponents of Castro" by Matt Reynolds in The Prague Post Online.