The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 11
About This Presentation
Title:

The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962

Description:

The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962 PO 326: American Foreign Policy The Cuban Missile Crisis Closest the two superpowers came to a nuclear exchange during the Cold ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:303
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 12
Provided by: dfos7
Learn more at: https://www.vmi.edu
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962


1
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962
  • PO 326 American Foreign Policy

2
The Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Closest the two superpowers came to a nuclear
    exchange during the Cold War
  • Resulted when USSR secretly placed medium and
    intermediate-range ballistic missiles and nuclear
    warheads in Cuba
  • Crisis intimately linked to other strategic
    situations between the superpowers (e.g., US
    missiles in Eastern Hemisphere, Berlin situation)
  • Most regularly examined crisis by analysts of
    foreign policy decision-making (well-documented,
    unimaginable consequences)

3
The Progression of the Crisis
  • 1. USSR secretly places missiles in Cuba (6
    September)
  • Hidden in cargo ships
  • Buildup of Soviet forces to construct/operate
    missiles, repel US invasion
  • Done in wake of Soviet assertions that no
    offensive weapons would be placed in Cuba
  • 2. American U-2 reconnaissance plane discovers
    Soviet missiles (14 October)
  • Complete surprise to US officials
  • U-2 not fired upon by SAMs, though they were
    operational

4
The Progression of the Crisis
  • 3. American foreign policy chiefs debate the USs
    course of action (beginning 14 October)
  • Formation of ExComm (SecState, SecDef, NSA, VP,
    AG, CIA chief, Stevenson, Acheson, Deputies,
    Experts)
  • Linkage to situation in Berlin
  • Diplomatic track, trade essentially eliminated as
    options at early points
  • Three main options settled upon as menu of
    choice
  • Surgical air strike
  • Large air strike followed by invasion
  • Quarantine (blockade)
  • Blockade chosen

5
The Progression of the Crisis
  • 4. President Kennedy addresses nation concerning
    crisis (22 October) initiation of public
    confrontation
  • Demands withdrawal of missiles
  • Announces quarantine order
  • Place US strategic forces on full alert
  • Warns USSR that any missile launched from Cuba
    will be regarded as a Soviet missile, requiring a
    full retaliatory response by the US against the
    USSR

6
The Progression of the Crisis
  • 5. Khrushchev orders Soviet forces to full alert,
    threatens retaliation against US ships if
    boarding attempted (24 October)
  • Soviet ships head toward quarantine line most
    turn back, and only one ship boarded
  • Missile readiness program sped up by Soviets
  • 6. Khrushchev offers withdrawal of missiles in
    exchange for non-invasion pledge in letter to
    Kennedy (26 October)
  • Conciliatory, emotional response
  • Recognition of crisis as potentially
    uncontrollable

7
The Progression of the Crisis
  • 7. Khrushchev sends second letter demanding US
    withdraw missiles in Turkey in exchange for
    Soviet missile withdrawal from Cuba (27 October)
  • Letter likely the product of hard-line Politburo
    revision
  • US Jupiter missiles in Turkey obsolete, but
    outright trade would be victory for USSR
  • SAMs open fire on US planes U-2 shot down

8
The Progression of the Crisis
  • 8. US responds favorably to first letter, but
    warns of imminent air strike or invasion if
    missiles not withdrawn by 28 October (27 October)
  • Both countries prepare for nuclear war, as per
    likely courses of action (US attack, USSR attacks
    Jupiters and Berlin, US retaliates and resists in
    Berlin, full nuclear exchange)
  • RFK meets with Dobrynin modified trade
  • 9. Khrushchev announces withdrawal of missiles
    (28 October)

9
Reflections on the Crisis
  • Any of a number of small changes in this process
    could have led to MAD
  • In the first part of the course, we will seek to
    address some important puzzles of the crisis,
    both to provide answers and to illustrate the
    explanatory applicability of several general,
    analytical approaches to foreign policy
    decision-making

10
Reflections on the Crisis
  • Given that doing so would likely bring the world
    to the brink of destruction, why did the USSR put
    missiles in Cuba in the first place?
  • Given that a blockade did not remove the missiles
    and allowed those in place to be readied, how and
    why did the US settle upon the quarantine as
    its chosen response?
  • Given that nuclear war would hurt the US as much
    as the USSR, why did the USSR choose to remove
    the missiles?

11
General Questions Concerning American Foreign
Policy
  • Who are the key players in American foreign
    policy decision-making?
  • How are American foreign policy decisions arrived
    at by these key players?
  • Are theoretical frameworks useful to analysts
    seeking to answer these questions?
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com