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Significance of Cuban missile crisis on Cold War relations
Cuban missile crisis significance
Kennedy's life and presidency
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Cuban Missile Crisis Analysis Report:
The impact of nuclear weapons between two Superpowers
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the one and only time mankind could have ended the world in less than a few hours. The concluding result of this 13 day battle between the top two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, could have impacted the world in such catastrophic ways, resulting in a zero sum game. This particular game is defined by one side winning by firing their weapons first and eliminating the opponent. However, in the end the two powers came to a mutual understanding of contentment with both sides removing their nuclear weapons and respecting each other’s privacy; this making it a non-zero sum game.
In order to understand where the Cuban Missile Crisis originated from, it is important to examine the events leading up to it. In 1961 the Soviet Union was under rule of Nikita Khrushchev. At the time, the United States was in the middle of a political transition with the election of John F. Kennedy, more commonly referred to as JFK ("John F. Kennedy"). With Khrushchev’s establishment of power spreading out across the country, he gained knowledge of the U.S. planting nuclear weapons in Turkey facing the Soviet Union only 300 miles away (History.com).
While JFK wasn’t officially inaugurated until 1961, he was briefed on a plan by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Eisenhower administration of training Cuban exiles for an invasion on their homeland, which was under the power of Fidel Castro ("Bay of Pigs").This attack on Cuba’s shores is more famously referred to as the Bay of Pigs. The United States saw this as an opportunity since Castro was just coming into power after the armed revolt that had ...
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...useum . JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. Web. 24 Mar 2014.
Donald, Aida DiPace. John F. Kennedy and the New Frontier. New York: American Book-Stratford Press, Inc, 1966. Print.
History.com, . "Cuban Missile Crisis." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 13 Mar 2014. .
"Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971)." Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar 2014. .
"Revelations from the Russian Archives." Col War: Cuban Missile Crisis. Library of Congress, 22 07 2010. Web. 24 Mar 2014. .
United States. White House. John F. Kennedy. Washington: , Print. .
On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy reached out to America and the Cubans with his Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation. During this time, the Cold War had occupied several countries of world. This war resulted from tensions, military and political, between Russia and its allies and America, its allies, and the Western Hemisphere. When President Kennedy gave his speech, Russia had occupied Cuba and began building military bases that contained nuclear warheads and other deadly missiles. People of America saw this as a threat to the freedom of the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere. In a time of great tension and fear, President Kennedy delivered his spectacular and reassuring speech that appealed to the citizens of American in several ways.
May, Ernest R. "John F Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis." BBC News. BBC, 18 Nov. 2013.
Kennedy took office in January 1961 and he trusted the CIA and his advisors, and in April 1961 the exiles were on their way to Cuba. The plan failed terribly with Castro anticipating the attack. Cuba held the exiles hostage, and Kennedy was confronted with the issue of using American forces to liberate the hostages. Kennedy’s hawk advisors and the CIA all urged the use of American forces, but Kennedy was resilient against it.
May, Ernest R. “John F Kennedy and the Cuban MIssile Crisis.” BBC News. BBC., 18 Nov. 2013.
The Soviet Union and the United States were very distant during three decades of a nuclear arms race. Even though the two nations never directly had a battle, the Cuban Missile Crisis, amongst other things, was a result of the tension. The missile crisis began in October of 1962, when an American spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union in Cuba. JFK did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles, so he made his decisions very secretly. Eventually, Kennedy decided to place a ring of ships around Cuba and place missiles in Turkey. Eventually, both leaders superpowers realized the possibility of a nuclear war and agreed to a deal in which the Soviets would remove the missiles from Cuba if the US didn't invade Cuba. Even though the Soviets removed took their missiles out of Cuba and the US eventually taking their missiles out of Turkey, they (the Soviets) continued to build a more advanced military; the missile crisis was over, but the arms race was not.
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.
The Cuban missile crisis left many impacts on not only the countries involved in it, the entire world. It sent waves of fear, anxiety, and paranoia across the world. Countries began to panic as they sat by watching the United States and Cuba on the verge of all out nuclear warfare, they began the search for a way to protect themselves in case they got brought into the battle or in case a rival country also decides to start war. After the Cuban missile crisis ended the arms race for nuclear weaponry was at its peak.
The first point that made John F. Kennedy responsible for handling the Cuban Missile Crisis, well, was his way of managing the public. In every crisis, a leader must always keep in mind of the reactions of the people because if it is ill dealt with, disastrous and chaotic consequences could ensue. Thus, even though nuclear warfare was prevented; credit should also be given to how the public of the United States did not end up in turmoil. To access how the public did not end up in chaos, one has to look into the genesis of when the majority of the American citizens received the news of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the first place. This leaves with only one source, which was the public address from President John F. Kennedy on October 22, 1962.1
"Cuban Missile Crisis." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Presidential Library and Museum, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a major event in U.S History that almost led to nuclear destruction. It was over a period of thirteen days in which diplomats from the U.S and the Soviet Union were trying to reach a peaceful resolution so that they wouldn’t have to engage in physical warfare. The crisis was the hallmark of the Cold War era which lasted from the 1950’s to the late 1980’s. The Cold War was a power struggle between the U.S and Soviet Union in which the two nations had a massive arms race to become the strongest military force. The U.S considered Communism to be an opposing political entity, and therefore branded them as enemies. Khrushchev’s antagonistic view of Americans also played a big role in the conflict. The Cold War tensions, coupled with a political shift in Cuba eventually lead to the military struggle known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the point of most tension and near collapse causing the Cold War to almost shift from a passive and underground struggle to a violent and catastrophic one.
"The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962." U.S. Dept. of State Office of the Historian. Office of the Historian, 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. .
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.
Chang, Laurence and Peter Kornbluh. The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. New York: The New Press, 1992.
Stern, Sheldon M. The Cuban Missile Crisis in American Memory: Myths versus Reality. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ., 2012. Print.