President Kennedy's Flexible Response Doctrine

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A presidential doctrine comprises the key goals, attitudes, or stances for United States foreign affairs outlined by a President. Most presidents want to announce a doctrine to outline their foreign policy. For example, President Kennedy doctrine the “Flexible Response” refers to foreign policy initiatives towards Latin America. Kennedy voiced support for the containment of Communism and the reversal of Communist progress in the Western Hemisphere. Kennedy added to the Truman and Eisenhower’s doctrines by introducing his “flexible response” policy, whose ultimate goal was to reduce the possible use nuclear weapons while preventing other countries from using them. This policy is meant to give the president more flexible options of dealing with the opposition.

President Kennedy Flexible response was his approach to increase spending on conventional military forces, enlarged the nuclear arsenal, continue the CIA covert work, giving economic aid to countries to resist communism including the development of the Peace Corps, and the continued negotiations with the USSR.

Relations between the United States and Cuba had been steadily declining since Castro seized power in early 1959. The U.S. officials were convinced that Castro's government was too anti-American to be trusted, and they feared that he might lead Cuba into the communist alliance. The Eisenhower administration began financing and training a group of Cuban exiles to overthrow the Cuban leader. Castro responded by increasing his program of nationalizing foreign property and companies. In return, the United States began to implement cutbacks in trade with Cuba. The relationship between the United States and Cuba was one of the chilliest of the cold war (History Chann...

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...ted by Cuba’s decision to send troops to Angola. President Carter’s efforts to normalize relations were greeted by the Mariel boatlift. Presidents Clinton’s were met by the shooting down of a Brothers to the Rescue plane. Finally, most recently, Obama efforts were greeted by the arrest and imprisonment of a USAID contractor on charges of espionage. Economic reform is Cuba’s number one priority the United States is not (Starr, 2013).

Cuba’s plan is to put together just enough market incentives into a socialist economy to enhance productivity, jump start growth, and create good jobs without sacrificing the essence of Cuba’s socialist revolution. Ambassador Carlos Alzugaray stated, Cuba is trying to carry out a “gradual but relentless” updating of socialism driven by economic and political necessity as well as the country’s unique realities (Starr, 2013).

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