Strengths And Weaknesses Of Balance Of Power

In 1962, Cuba was convinced that the USA was planning to attack them and asked the Soviet Union for military assistance. The USSR sent Cuba materials to build missile bases and launch sites. When President Kennedy realized that Cuba could launch missiles into America, he demanded that the USSR remove its weapons and troops. The Americans formed a naval blockade as the world stood nervously on the edge of a nuclear war. The USSR removed its weapons despite protests from Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

By 1962, the Soviet Union was considerably behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. The Soviet Union had limited range missiles that were only capable of being launched against Europe, but the United States possessed missiles that were capable of striking anywhere within the entire Soviet Union. As it is often said, when it comes to national security, leaders sometimes make irrational decisions. In an effort to restore the balance of power Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev devised the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba (14 days in October). This deployment of weapons in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a credible deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the

The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 lasted thirteen days and was one of the major events during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union were brink of a nuclear world war. Fidel Castro had become leader of Cuba and had turned the country into a communist state, similar to the Soviet Union. The USSR was given permission to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to target major cities in the United States, the reason was because the Soviet Union was threatened by the missiles placed in Italy and Turkey by the Americans. However, neither of the nation's fired their weapons; and an agreement between Nikita Khrushchev (leader of the USSR) and President John F.

Kennedy had given a speech to the American people where he has said “We have unmistakable evidence that a series of offensive missile sites is now being built on that island … Cuba has been made into an important strategic base by the presence of these long-range offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction… Our objective must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country. We must secure their withdrawal from the Western Hemisphere” (Doc 6). President Kennedy was trying to calm the society by explaining they will be prevent the use of the missiles by withdrawing the Western Hemisphere. During the year of 1962, October 27 Premier Khrushchev stated in a message “Mr. President, the Soviet government decided to help Cuba with means of defense against outside attack. These weapons were only meant for defensive purposes. We have supplied them to prevent aggression against Cuba … With respect and confidence I accept the statement you set forth in your message of October 27, 1962. You said then that Cuba will not be attacked or invaded by any country of the Western Hemisphere … We have given the order to discontinue building the installations. We shall dismantle them and withdraw them to the Soviet Union” (Doc 8). This message was sent to the U.S after ordering a blockade of all offensive military equipment being sent into

The relationship between Castro and Khrushchev was cemented between 1959-1962 as the Soviets gained Castro’s trust by buying Cuban sugar crops two years in advance, as well as accepting trade and economic assistance (Nathan 38). The Soviet surface to air missiles (SAMs) began being shipped to Cuba in the spring of 1962, in response to the U.S. Jupiter missiles placed in Turkey (Nathan 75). Eventually, the two nations would sign the Russia-Cuba Pact in August, 1962, and the shipment of Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) began (Nathan xxiv). “Fidel Castro accepted the Russian arguments that Cuba needed to accept missiles for its self-defense. Castro did not accept the logic but, as a member of the Soviet Bloc, felt Cuba had a duty to sustain socialism….(Nathan 76).”

Mearsheimer’s short article “The cause of great power war” explains the occurrence of major power wars. According to Mearsheimer, power gives rise to three kinds of systems which are known as Bipolarity, Unbalanced Multipolarity, and

Krushehev the leader of the Soviet Union entered into talks with the Kennedy administration where it was agreed missiles would not be placed in Cuba, and America would not attack.

Most missile sites consisted of SA-2 SAMs and MRBMs; most of which were in North Cuba close to the U.S. Kennedy saw this as a threatening act and called in for a naval "quarantine" line of ships to block shipments of missiles. Kennedy did not call it a blockade as that sounded more or less like a term used in war. Kennedy then ordered for Krushchev to dismantle the sites and return all offense weapons. Krushchev did not stop but most ships either turned back or had nothing dangerous. On October 26, close to the missile sites being operational, Krushchev finally considered a deal with Kennedy to dismantle the sites, for he too feared nuclear confrontation. The deal was that if the U.S. did not invade Cuba and that they took their Jupiter missiles in Turkey back, the Soviets would take their missiles(Office of the Historian). A few days later the deal was made and nuclear war was averted. Through the whole solution, however, Castro was never regared and left as a pawn. Nevertheless, the world changing events of the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis brought three nations into conflict that ultimately Castro would see to wage war on one and ally with the

The event of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Fifteen years into the cold war, the two superpowers continued the fierce competition to increase their military strength. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, whereas the US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba which would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. The fate of millions

The Soviet Union, in 1962, was rushing to catch up with the U.S. in the arms race, (arms being a metonymy for all military weapons), but their missiles were lacking in power. If activated, they could only reach Europe and would fall short of the U.S. Unfortunately, in April the Soviet Union placed their missile on Cuba, only 90 miles from the U.S.! Coincidently, Castro was paranoid of a second attack and was looking for a defense mechanism, so he jumped at the chance to have the Soviet Union’s missiles on his island directed toward the U.S. Therefore, that summer Cuba and the Soviet Union worked together to install missiles in Cuba.

World War I saw the nations involved rallied into two major alliances in order to curb German’s increasing power. It is evident that German amassing too much power poses a threat to the security of its counterparts in an anarchic system. As a result, other countries were willing to use various means not only to mitigate the risks but also maintain their independence in the world’s political structure. The balance of power theory focuses on how countries can achieve a balance and international order. The causes of World War one can be attributed to the balance of power mechanisms used by the countries involved.

Soviet leader Krushchev quickly agreed to protect Cuba. Cuba was in a strategic location to place missile launch sites that could strike nearly all of the continental United States. During the Cold War the United States had many missile launch sites placed all over the world and pointed at the Soviet Union. The United States was allied with Turkey, so the American military had a base there to work their U-2 from and many missile sites pointed at the Soviet Union. These missiles in Turkey made Krushchev want to build surface to air missile sites on Cuba to balance the power and show his force. Krushchev would soon start sending ships and submarines loaded with equipment to start building medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles. In May 1962, Krushchev wrote in his memoirs: “This will be a means of protecting Cuba from another U.S. Invasion of Cuba like the Bay of Pigs in 1961, also to counter the U.S. emerging lead of deploying strategic missiles.”

The final level of analysis Morgenthau considers to be important is whether or not the power is legitimate and moral or if it is illegitimate and immoral. Legitimate and moral power carries considerable weight in the international community. However, if the power of a state is derived from illegitimate sources such as a dictatorship the international community will be less responsive to that state, weakening its power. Weak or small states may enter into alliances with stronger states to increase their power and influence within the international community (Kleinberg 2010, 33-34). Morgenthau also believed that the charisma and personality of a leader was very important when reviewing the balance of power and understanding a state’s self interest (Kleinberg 2010, 32).

The Balance of Power is a fiercely debated topic within the realm of international relations. Its true definition has been impossible to pin down and how it manifests itself has been argued over by many academics, in addition to this the idea is divided between the schools of thought that it is a force for preserving peace or a force for tension and war. This essay will look to examine the balance of power using retrospective analysis of historical events, focusing on the lead up to and the outbreak of WWI and its conclusion and the Cold war. Through this it can be hoped to find a clearer definition of the balance of power, whether it is really a balance analogous to a set of scales and whether the balance of power is a way of preserving peace and stability or whether it is on the whole, better termed as the balance of war, creating only tension and instability.

Waltz believes that bipolar systems provide more stability and thus provide a better guarantee of security and peace than multipolar systems. ‘With only two great powers, both can be expected to behave in a way to prolong the system’ (Waltz, 1979). That is because in maintaining the system they are maintaining themselves. According to that view, the Cold War was a period of international stability and peace. (Jackson and Sorensen, 2003)