The Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC) is an influential event that governments, policy makers, scholars and students can reflect on and learn from. The sequence of events and the process of decision-making within the thirteen-day ordeal were crucial factors that influenced the achievement of negotiation between two superpowers. These factors and consequences have also influenced foreign policy and have provided the U.S. government with vital lessons that have impacted on government strategies. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the importance of identifying lessons that can be learnt from the Cuban missile crisis as a research question for a future study and essay. The following paper will provide an outline of events that took place during …show more content…
air assets to send signals of desist to Hanoi, similar to the way President Kennedy utilised naval blockade to send a signal to Khrushchev about the U.S. government's determinations and intentions. Regrettably, the North Vietnamese communists unsuccessfully interpreted the signals and Operation Rolling Thunder failed; as a result, the North Vietnamese increased their combat force to equal to the force of the Americans (Dobbs 2008; Scott 2012). Participating in further research and identifying faults within the process of decision-making during the Cuban missile crisis can assist in avoiding potential future errors similar to those seen in the Vietnam …show more content…
The following examples are lessons from the crisis that will be discussed in the essay: always consider all available options or consider creating a new strategy; nuclear war is possible and should not be taken lightly; within a crisis, a good leader is needed; decision makers must utilise time to develop, communicate, and consider variety of options and must not be forced into premature decisions; clear communication is needed between yourself and your adversary to avoid misinterpretations; compromise is inevitable; a nuclear war cannot be won; intelligence agencies should not be exclusively relied upon; uncertainty and miscommunication can result in an unintentional escalation of war; using historical events within the decision-making process can provide insights into final settlements and although the Cuban missile crisis was resolved successfully, future crises may not always conclude in a similar way (Betts 1985; Hampson 1985; May and Zelikow 2002; Neustadt and May 1986; Posen 1982; Yesin
In the Early Years: 1961-1963, Kennedy administration and Vietnam take flight. Assumptions behind the administration's decisions to increase U.S involvement in Vietnam strains two very important aspects that would gainsay obligation; one, the fall of South Vietnam to Communist control and the U.S military role and support. Discussion of knowledgeable ties to Southeast Asia emerged. Lack of governmental experts created obstacles. When the Berlin crisis occurred in 1961and during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, President Kennedy was able to turn to senior people like Llewellyn Thompson, Charles Bohlen and George Keenan, who knew the Soviets intimately. There were no senior officials in the Pentagon or State Department with comparable knowledge of Southeast Asia. Ultimately, the administration failed to critically analyze their assumptions and the foundations of their decisions, which inevitable ended in disaster.
United States spy planes found Soviet missile hangers being constructed throughout Cuba with the missiles being capable of reaching various targets in the United States. Panic raced throughout the Kennedy administration. Kennedy’s defense advisors urged for increased force, with options ranging from invading the island to destroying the hangers with bombs. Kennedy, who feared the possibility of nuclear war, wanted a solution without escalation. The solution was to put a quarantine on Cuba.
International organizations such as NATO and the UN are essential not only for global peace, but also as a place where middle powers can exert their influence. It is understandable that since the inception of such organizations that many crises have been averted, resolved, or dealt with in some way thro...
Robert F. Kennedy's chilling account of his experiences with his brother, President John F. Kennedy over thirteen days in October of 1962 give an idea to the reader of just how alarmingly close our country came to nuclear war. Kennedy sums up the Cuban Missile Crisis as "a confrontation between two atomic nations...which brought the world to the abyss of nuclear destruction and the end of mankind."1 The author's purpose for writing this memoir seems to be to give readers an idea of the danger confronted during the Cuban Missile Crisis and to reflect on the lessons we should learn from it as a country, and for future members of government.
On August 2, 1964 an incident happened between the USS Maddox and a North Vietnamese torpedo ships. While the Maddox was doing a casual sweep through of the Tonkin Gulf, the North Vietnamese ships began to follow. Captain Herrick ordered his men to shoot while he radioed an aircraft carrier for assistance. After feeling threated, the North Vietnamese ships each fired one torpedo. Two missed and the third failed to launch. The Maddox was barely touched, as for the Vietnamese ships, two were in bad shape and the other had sunk. Meanwhile, over in Washington D.C., President Lyndon B. Johnson was frantic about the situation he had been informed of. At first, President Johnson had no desire to hold any reprisal against North Vietnam. He proceeded to tell Russia that he had no interest in extending the conflict. However, he did warn that there would be consequences for their action. This conflict had our stationed soldiers on high al...
David Reynolds has written and enlightening book named “From Munich to Pearl Harbor” discussing three main objectives dealing with World War II. The first of the three objectives is to provide a detailed and clear narrative story from the years between Munich to Pearl Harbor. The second of the three purposes or objectives of the book is to analyze and show how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led the American people into a new perspective on international relations that were different from anything Americans had known. The last of the three objectives of the book is to show the developments between the years of 1938 through 1941. Many of these developments were very important later for the foreign policy of the United States not only during the Second World War but also during the Cold War complications with Russia and today with President Bush’s war on terror currently taking place in Iraq.
" We were eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked" (Shmoop). This
Perhaps the most critical moment that had occurred to the United States and the world of the last century is the Cuban Missile Crisis. The significance of this event was that it had brought the world to the closest it could ever be to a nuclear war. Millions of lives, cultures and infrastructure would have been lost if it was not splendidly dealt with. Yet, a man was able to prevent this devastation, and he was none other than President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) of the United States. How was he significant to the event? This research paper will discuss it with the points that are based on JFK’s characteristics. Hence, to provide an overview of this paper; the outbreak of nuclear warfare was prevented in the Cuban Missile Crisis specifically by John F. Kennedy’s many distinguished characteristics.
Chang, Laurence and Peter Kornbluh. The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. New York: The New Press, 1992.
The Cuban Missile Crisis exhibits the struggle for power between the two dominant powers of the time. The realist theory believes that world politics is a repetitive struggle for power and or influence. Power, in politics is largely perceived as influence and military capability. Power in mass amounts are located in objects such as nuclear missiles that have an immense influence on others. (Schmidt, 2007; Sterling-Folker & Shinko, 2007). This is clearly depicted through the actions taken by both leaders, as the simple placement of a missile had such a tremendous effect.
Stern, Sheldon M. The Cuban Missile Crisis in American Memory: Myths versus Reality. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ., 2012. Print.
Roger Donaldson’s film, Thirteen Days dramatizes the Kennedy administration reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The film discusses a time when the United States had come close to a nuclear war with other nations. The film mainly focuses on showing the audience the United States perspective of the crisis. The Cuban Missile crisis was a thirteen-day long confrontation between the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. This crisis started out when both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to be seen as the most superior nation in the world. Therefore, both nations decided to use the technology they had in order to produce nuclear missiles and other weapons to show the globe how powerful they were as nations. The United States and
In their essay, The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited, Blight, Nye, and Welch describe a time when Bureaucratic Politics nearly lead to war but ultimately did not. The Cuban Mussel Crisis was, they argue, an important lesson that we should be wary to forget. The article explores the “small-group politics,” and the different groups that were influential, such as the Hawks, Owls, and Doves. Each group had different opinions or seats, and different preconceived ideas on Cuba based on where they stood. The Hawks wanted to invade and be more forceful with the Cubans, which tended to be groups that would benefit from going to war. The Owls. “prefer[red] the quarantine, a (relatively mild) use of military force; this seemed to its proponents to allow for flexible movement—should conditions require it—toward the hawkish or dovish options.” The doves, of course, preferred a more peaceful tactic, surprisingly the Secretary of Defense, McNamara, was a dove. “The department of Defense tends to more hawkish,” but perhaps with the threat of a nuclear war the Defense department was cautious. Kennedy also brought in other member for advice. For example Kennedy asked for the advice of his brother, Robert Kennedy to try and make a decision. Each of these organizations and people had their own onions; they caused satisficing, and stoke-piping and it was clear that President Kennedy was unsure of
The communication process is not something that begins when a crisis rears its ugly head rather it is a process that takes place in preparing for a crisis before it happens. While the term crisis represents a blanket term used to describe many situations, each situation is unique, thus presenting different obstacles to overcome. However, with a well-established advanced plan in place an organization places itself in a position to overcome and work around obstacles. The development of a comprehensive crisis management plan is one achieved through effective communication where each member of the crisis management team has an advanced shared understanding of his or her role and responsibility during a time of crisis (du Pr'e, 2005).
Whenever world politics is mentioned, the state that appears to be at the apex of affairs is the United States of America, although some will argue that it isn’t. It is paramount we know that the international system is shaped by certain defining events that has lead to some significant changes, particularly those connected with different chapters of violence. Certainly, the world wars of the twentieth century and the more recent war on terror must be included as defining moments. The warning of brute force on a potentially large scale also highlights the vigorousness of the cold war period, which dominated world politics within an interval of four decades. The practice of international relations (IR) was introduced out of a need to discuss the causes of war and the different conditions for calm in the wake of the first world war, and it is relevant we know that this has remained a crucial focus ever since. However, violence is not the only factor capable of causing interruption in the international system. Economic elements also have a remarkable impact. The great depression that happened in the 1920s, and the global financial crises of the contemporary period can be used as examples. Another concurrent problem concerns the environment, with the human climate being one among different number of important concerns for the continuing future of humankind and the planet in general.