Diplomacy and Cold War: An Example from the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cold War was the economic, geopolitical and ideological battle between two superpowers: the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) that started at the end World War II and lasted until the disunion of the Soviet Union. The era was marked by continuous conflict between two superpower states that ranged from nuclear submarines to most advanced technology at the time. The two nations, the Soviet Union and the United States were never enemies before on any field, in fact, they have fought side by side during World War II. One of the biggest conflict in the Cold War is its nuclear warheads. John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960, and …show more content…
Kennedy and his advisers were stunned to learn that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear – armed medium and intermediate – range ballistic missiles in Cuba. With these offensive weapons which represented a new and existential threat to America, Moscow significantly raised the ante in the nuclear rivalry in the superpowers. On October 22, President JFK with no other recourse, proclaimed in a televised address that his administration knew of the illegal missiles and delivered an ultimatum insisting on the removal, announcing an American “quarantine” of Cuba to force compliance with his demands. (Schwarz, 2013). In Soviet’s defense, the Soviet’s premier, Nikita Khrushchev decided stationing Soviet missiles in Cuba would help compensate for the imbalance between Soviet and American ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), gain leverage for Soviet policy goals in Europe and deter United States from invading Cuba after examining the American threats against Cuba. What happened was, after receiving permission from President Fidel Castro to deploy the weapons, the support equipment left the Soviet Union for Cuba. The U-2 overflights, the American reconnaissance flights, were part of a broad continuing effort to monitor and contain Cuba. The ministers as well as the Organization of American States were largely in agreement with Rusk regarding the Soviet buildup. Both stated that the Soviet presence in Cuba constituted a threat to …show more content…
The missiles that were caught in a photograph could reach eighteen Strategic Air Command bases as well as Washington, DC and installing warheads required only a couple of hours and the launch preparations as little as two to three more. The time until completion of the missile sites was one of the critical factor in determining US’s strategy because once they were operational, US’s options will became more limited so it’s better to destroy them before they were ready to fire. Because of the technological limitations, there was no defense against ballistic missiles short of destroying them before they were launched. Even if the Soviets did not intend to fire them against US, several EXCOMM members believed that Moscow could use the missiles as a distraction while they moved against Berlin. Others believed Khrushchev also wished to established leverage against the US missiles in Turkey in addition to bringing the Berlin issue to a
The Cold War was the economic, geopolitical and ideological battle between two superpowers: the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) that started at the end World War II and lasted until the disunion of the Soviet Union. The era was marked by continuous conflict between two superpower states that ranged from nuclear submarines to most advanced technology at the time. The two nations, the Soviet Union and the United States were never enemies before on any field, in fact, they have fought side by side during World War II. One of the biggest conflict in the Cold War is its nuclear warheads. John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960, and …show more content…
Kennedy and his advisers were stunned to learn that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear – armed medium and intermediate – range ballistic missiles in Cuba. With these offensive weapons which represented a new and existential threat to America, Moscow significantly raised the ante in the nuclear rivalry in the superpowers. On October 22, President JFK with no other recourse, proclaimed in a televised address that his administration knew of the illegal missiles and delivered an ultimatum insisting on the removal, announcing an American “quarantine” of Cuba to force compliance with his demands. (Schwarz, 2013). In Soviet’s defense, the Soviet’s premier, Nikita Khrushchev decided stationing Soviet missiles in Cuba would help compensate for the imbalance between Soviet and American ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), gain leverage for Soviet policy goals in Europe and deter United States from invading Cuba after examining the American threats against Cuba. What happened was, after receiving permission from President Fidel Castro to deploy the weapons, the support equipment left the Soviet Union for Cuba. The U-2 overflights, the American reconnaissance flights, were part of a broad continuing effort to monitor and contain Cuba. The ministers as well as the Organization of American States were largely in agreement with Rusk regarding the Soviet buildup. Both stated that the Soviet presence in Cuba constituted a threat to …show more content…
The missiles that were caught in a photograph could reach eighteen Strategic Air Command bases as well as Washington, DC and installing warheads required only a couple of hours and the launch preparations as little as two to three more. The time until completion of the missile sites was one of the critical factor in determining US’s strategy because once they were operational, US’s options will became more limited so it’s better to destroy them before they were ready to fire. Because of the technological limitations, there was no defense against ballistic missiles short of destroying them before they were launched. Even if the Soviets did not intend to fire them against US, several EXCOMM members believed that Moscow could use the missiles as a distraction while they moved against Berlin. Others believed Khrushchev also wished to established leverage against the US missiles in Turkey in addition to bringing the Berlin issue to a