The Realist Perspective on the Cuban Missile Crisis
In October of 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union reached a near-nuclear experience when in a short fourteen days; Russia was caught building nuclear missile bases in Cuba. With the Second World War just barely in the past, the United States was still on their toes making sure they were in the clear. When they sent the U-2 spy plane to monitor Cuba they found missile bases that were armed and ready to wipe out the western hemisphere. Considering the military, economy, and diplomacy of the U.S., Kennedy could take no chances.
The realist perspective focuses on the conflict and states and the manifestation of power, which while looking at the Cuban Missile Crisis, will give
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Another reason there was conflict is because as winners of the world war, they were bound to have conflict of interests especially since the U.S. was booming and the S.U. couldn’t keep up. After two weeks of threats and conflict without resolution, the U.S. and S.U. came to an agreement. If the U.S. removed their missiles from the Turkey-Russia border, which they did, then Russia would dismantle the missile bases in Cuba, which they also did. As this was an embarrassment for the Russians, they felt a bit undermined/underpowered but none the less the crisis was over. The Realist perspective gives a broad and objective overview of the situation but it does miss some things. Realists forget to consider relationships that countries may or may not have had at the time of the crisis, which can affect several things. Realists forget that the Russians were not allies with the U.S. which is why Russia felt it necessary to build missile bases in Cuba so they had the ability to retaliate, and the U.S. felt like it was about capabilities not intentions because of the lack in communication between the two countries. The U.S. and S.U. had selfish goals, protecting themselves, not considering what the other may have in mind; they will never know if maybe they both wanted the same thing and could have agreed on a treaty. Realists feel like Kennedy’s diplomacy is what ended the situation, but a liberalist may say it was due to the power of
The Cuban Missile Crisis all started in October, 1962, when an American spy plane spotted and secretly photographed missile sites being built on the island of Cuba by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy did not tell the Soviet Union right away that we had found their nuclear missile site. But days later, President Kennedy meet secretly with his advisors to discuss the situation. President Kennedy and his advisors though long and hard about what to do and the finally came up with an idea. Kennedy decided to put a naval blockade around the island of Cuba. The purpose of this was so Cuba could not get anymore military supplies for the Soviet Union. President Kennedy demanded that the missiles that were already there be disabled and that the sit be destroyed. Later on, Kennedy told America what was happening on a televised address. Everyone was anxious about what the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, would say about the naval blockade. But both President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev recognized that the devastation that a nuclear war will bring is too much.
Ultimately emphasizing United States disapproval to any nuclear weapons being delivered to Cuba. As well as all Soviets take down any missile bases being established or completed and all weapons be returned. This was only the start of a long path of communication between the White House and the Kremlin throughout the crisis.This pledge signified a public deal in which the United States pledged not to invade Cuba if the Soviets withdrew missiles, as well as an ultimatum threatening to attack Cuba within 24 hours if the offer was rejected, and a promised agreement to withdraw U.S. missiles from Turkey within the following six
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the most terrifying thirteen days in the history of American. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest that the world has ever came to the nuclear war (Boyd). On October 15, 1962, a U-2 found the missiles in Cuba (“Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline”). On October 16, 1962, more photos were shown that proves Cuba has long ranging missiles from the Soviet Union. Robert Kennedy meets with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. Gromyko explains to Robert Kennedy that the Soviet Union is helping Cuba in advancing their agriculture. Gromyko also explains to Robert Kennedy that the nuclear weapons are for protection (“Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline”). Since Cuba is closer than the Soviet Union to America, it makes more sense for the Soviet Union to keep their nuclear weapons in Cuba. If the Soviet Union had missiles that could launch from the Soviet Union to America, why else would they have them in the Soviet Union. Therefore, the Soviet Union put their nuclear weapon into Cuba. America’s weapons were strong enough to launch from America into the Soviet Union from America. Therefore, America was farther ahead in the arms race than the Soviet Union (Boyd). In the Excomm meeting on October 19, 1962, they member suggest to send ships from the United States to Cuba to stop the Soviet Union (“Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline”). They called this act a quarantine instead of a blockade. Since a blockade in used as a war tactic, the Excomm members did not want to call the quarantine a blockade to give people the wrong idea. A simple mistake, like that, could have been enough to start another war (“Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline”). In this Excomm meeting President John F. Kennedy was not able to attend. When President John F. Kennedy finds out what the Excomm suggest, he heads back to Washington to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis (“Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the only devastating event in U.S. to ever bring the country into DEFCON-2. Ever since World War 2, the U.S. and the Soviet Union have been rivals(Jeffery, Riley, 4). The Soviets later aligned themselves with the small country of Cuba. It is a small piece of land in enemy territory, but it is very important to them because they have to protect their allies at all times. For this reason, The USSR placed missiles in Cuba to keep them prepared for an invasion. In 1962, The two huge superpowers brought the Cold War to a nuclear crisis in Cuba which led to DEFCON-2, the closest point to a nuclear war(The Choices Program)
While the Soviet Union sought to expand its scope of influence even at the cost of peace, the United States openly threatened the Soviet Union, and directly confronted it’s maritime supply ships in international waters. Although both countries came into direct confrontation, this situation lead to thawing of relations in the large term, the United States and Russia created direct communication lines to prevent future misunderstandings, the United States withdrew its nuclear weapons from Turkey, prior to the agreement by the United States to never again invade Cuba, the Soviets withdrew their nuclear weapons from the
In 1962 United States intelligence discovers that the Soviet Union were building nuclear missile sites in Cuba. The american presidency believed that the soviets were protecting castro from an american invasion of Cuba. The challenge that the U.S. faced was how to force the soviets to withdraw the missiles from Cuba without starting a nuclear war. During this crisis several points will need to be discussed such as the U.S. and Soviets rationale for this crisis, the link to the “Bay of Pigs”, and the effect that the Cuban Missile Crisis had on President John F. Kennedy’s legacy as a president.
During the end of World War II, a political struggle existed between the Western World, North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, and the Eastern Bloc. Lasting until 1991, this struggle was better known as the Cold War. At the helm of these sides was the United States of America and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics or better known as the Soviet Union. Both of these nations were constantly competing amongst each other in order to demonstrate their superiority of their politico-economic system. This was also done through proxy conflicts such as political, development aid, and military just to name a few. Their focus went towards post World War II European nations in trying to win over these
The Cuban Missile Crisis was similar to a game of chess, one miscalculated move could have ended up costing entire game. There were two main players within this conflict, the United States and the Soviet Union. Although the Soviets were the ones to have placed the missiles in Cuba, both the United States and the Soviet Union both sought a common goal, which was to avert war and make diplomatically resolve the crisis at hand. Each player took different and contentious moves so that in the end, they were able to gain as much as they were able while avoiding war. Throughout the conflict, communication and decision making was extremely important to the outcome of the crisis. If there happened to be any sort of miscommunication, or faulty decisions,
The ideological incompatibilities of the United States and Soviet Union served as the primary cause accounting for the disharmony between the two superpowers during the Cuban missile crisis. A well supported
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a harsh time during the Cold War. About 50 years ago the USA and the USSR were at each others throat for a very pointless reason. This basically started because USSR planted nuclear bombs in Cuba which was pretty close to Florida. John F. Kennedy was the president at this time and he was not to fond of that idea. October 1962, JFK was warned that the USSR had the nuclear weapons set up in Cuba ready to attack and as a result of this situation, Kennedy then also placed nuclear bombs in Cuba. The USSR found out about Kennedy’s plans and this was the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both the United States and the USSR were at each others throat, and if they were to continue the stalemate any longer, they would have started a nuclear war. According to the treaty between the US and the USSR, it basically states that although many people believe that the US did not have the right to do what they did, they actually had every right to do it. There are two main reasons why the US had the right to do this and it is because the treaty between the US and the USSR states that the US was able to and had the right to intervene and because the US did not sign the peace treaty that USSR offered them so they were able to attack.
In response, Kennedy ordered a ‘quarantine’ around Cuba to make sure no ships were containing missile components, and the US forces were put on alert. The Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, said that the quarantine was “an act of unjustified aggression” (Chrisp 39). Khrushchev declared that he would ignore the quarantine, but actually, Soviet ships did not cross the quarantine line. Kennedy and Khrushchev started to exchange a series of letters, to try to resolve the conflict. Khrushchev’s first offer, sent via letter, was that if the US promised not to invade Cuba, then Khrushchev would promise to remove the missiles in Cuba. Khrushchev’s second offer, relayed via radio, demanded that the US remove the Turkey missiles, and Khrushchev would remove the Cuban missiles. The two leaders managed to negotiate a peaceful compromise. The US would promise publicly that they would not invade Cuba, but not announce that they are removing the Turkey missiles, and Khrushchev would remove the Cuban missiles. However, the two leaders did not think to ask for Castro’s demands. The crisis ended on October 28, 1962.
It wasn’t until early October 1962, when it had come to my attention that the decisions I were to make in the future had never been valued with such crucial importance. These decisions could essentially result in the mass destruction of entire societies and inescapably produce a nuclear war. Looking back now, I realize the Cuban Missile Crisis was an extreme pivotal moment in the Cold War. 6 months ago my own country, the United States of America, had never been so close to Armageddon with the Soviet Union.
The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. The crisis was a major confrontation between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The confrontation was caused by the Soviets putting missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States of America. The world was in the hands of President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khruchchev. These two men would have to reach a compromise or else the results would be fatal.
When speaking about the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy said, "It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization” (“Nuclear Test Ban Treaty” 1). the Cuban Missile Crisis was a time where these two men, Kennedy and Khrushchev, had the power in their hands to end civilization. In order to understand the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis one must understand, the Cold war drama; the dangerous crisis; and its importance today.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a frightening moment for the entire world. It started October 14th, 1962 after the Soviet Union planted nuclear missiles inn Cuba. The U.S. found out that these missiles were being planted without their knowledge, but the Soviet Union continued the construction of these nuclear missile sites, even after President Kennedy, the president of the U.S., sent out a warning against these weapons in Cuba. Even after this warning, Kennedy once again found out that the construction was still happening. Following the discovery of the ongoing construction, Kennedy wanted to meet with people at the White House to solve the problem that they were encountering. There were multiple sides during their talk about the missiles. Some of the people at the meeting wanted to take a more aggressive approach and destroy these missiles and then follow up with an attack. Kennedy eventually decided to quarantine Cuba. After Kennedy quarantined Cuba, there were many messages sent between the White House and the Kremlin to try and solve the problem. The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted for thirteen extremely tense days. At the end of these thirteen days, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended with an agreement between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis greatly impacted history. It strengthened the bond between the United States and Soviet Union, showed people how to come to a