Summary: The Cuban Missile Crisis

After World War II, many countries found themselves in political and economic turmoil. The spread of Communism in the east created fear in NATO and particularly in the US whose government was capitalistic, a complete polar opposite to the Soviet Union’s government. The United States saw Communism as a threat to international security while the Soviet Union feared the nuclear capabilities of the US and also worried that the west would try to restore borders in Europe and remove land that the Soviet Union had acquired after the defeat of the Nazis. The Cuban Missile Crisis arose from the need for the Soviet Union to strengthen its defenses and prepare itself for an attack on American soil should a Third World War begin. NATO had ballistic missiles

Castro’s Cuban island was a perfect location for the Soviet Union to counter NATO’s threat. While the Cuban Missile Crisis almost triggered a nuclear war with the potential of killing millions of Americans and Europeans, this situation was resolved in part by Kennedy’s shrewd leadership and negotiation skills and proved how foreign policy can be used to avoid catastrophe. John F. Kennedy became President of the United States during one of the most stressful and nerve-wracking periods of the 20th century, amidst the political chaos and struggle that was the Cold War. Every country on earth held their breath waiting for an incredibly large and bloody war to erupt, or for peace agreements and further negotiations to settle the tensions between the communist Soviet Union and the US. Situations like these don’t simply arise out of the blue. Instead, there was a lot of buildup that led to such overbearing tensions between the Soviet Union and the US. In fact, tensions had

Foreign policy can also lead to mistakes that create enemies and lead to disastrous consequences that put a countries people in danger. Before we delve into the negotiations that led to The Cuban Missile Crisis and its subsequent resolution, we must first discuss how Cuba even came to be involved in this predicament. The Cubans and Americans had a long history of problems dating as far back as the Spanish American War during the late 1800s. Cuba had been under rule by the Spanish and had sought independence for many years. The US decided to intervene to help Cuba become independent of Spanish rule. Eventually the US and Spain declared war and US naval troops swiftly and effectively brought Spain to its knees, forcing the Spanish to surrender its control of Cuba. Following this intervention, the US government helped impose the Platt Amendment, which altered Cuba’s constitution in that it allowed the US to enter Cuba and deal with anything America, deemed dangerous to its national security. America’s foreign policy was smart for doing this because they realized the potential for Cuba to be used as a main base for hostile attacks to be deployed from. In a sense, the US was being cautious and this caution proved to be of substance when Fidel Castro declared Cuba to become the first western Communist state. The US