essay topics about the cuban missile crisis

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What was the outcome of the Cuban missile crisis?

Should the united states maintain the embargo against cuba that was inflamed by the cuban missile crisis.

• What was the Cold War?
• How did the Cold War end?
• Why was the Cuban missile crisis such an important event in the Cold War?

Cuban missile crisis

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• HistoryNet - Inside the Cuban Missile Crisis
• PBS LearningMedia - Cuban Missile Crisis | Retro Report
• John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum - Cuban Missile Crisis
• The History Learning Site - Cuban Missile Crisis
• Khan Academy - The Cuban Missile Crisis
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• Alpha History - The Cuban Missile Crisis
• Hoover Institution - The 1962 Sino-Indian War and the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Spartacus Educational - Cuban Missile Crisis
• The National Security Archive - The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: The 40th Anniversary
• Cuban missile crisis - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Cuban missile crisis - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

What was the Cuban missile crisis?

The Cuban missile crisis was a major confrontation in 1962 that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to war over the presence of Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles in Cuba.

When did the Cuban missile crisis take place?

The Cuban missile crisis took place in October 1962.

The Cuban missile crisis marked the climax of an acutely antagonistic period in U.S.-Soviet relations. It played an important part in Nikita Khrushchev ’s fall from power and the Soviet Union’s determination to achieve nuclear parity with the United States. The crisis also marked the closest point that the world had ever come to global nuclear war.

Whether the U.S. should maintain its embargo against Cuba that was inflamed by the Cuban Missile Crisis is hotly debated. Some say Cuba has not met the conditions required to lift it, and the US will look weak for lifting the sanctions. Others say the 50-year policy has failed to achieve its goals, and Cuba does not pose a threat to the United States. For more on the Cuba embargo debate, visit ProCon.org .

Cuban missile crisis , (October 1962), major confrontation that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to war over the presence of Soviet nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba .

Having promised in May 1960 to defend Cuba with Soviet arms, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev assumed that the United States would take no steps to prevent the installation of Soviet medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Such missiles could hit much of the eastern United States within a few minutes if launched from Cuba. The United States learned in July 1962 that the Soviet Union had begun missile shipments to Cuba. By August 29 new military construction and the presence of Soviet technicians had been reported by U.S. U-2 spy planes flying over the island, and on October 14 the presence of a ballistic missile on a launching site was reported.

After carefully considering the alternatives of an immediate U.S. invasion of Cuba (or air strikes of the missile sites), a blockade of the island, or further diplomatic maneuvers, U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy decided to place a naval “quarantine,” or blockade, on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of missiles. Kennedy announced the quarantine on October 22 and warned that U.S. forces would seize “offensive weapons and associated matériel” that Soviet vessels might attempt to deliver to Cuba. During the following days, Soviet ships bound for Cuba altered course away from the quarantined zone. As the two superpowers hovered close to the brink of nuclear war, messages were exchanged between Kennedy and Khrushchev amidst extreme tension on both sides. On October 28 Khrushchev capitulated , informing Kennedy that work on the missile sites would be halted and that the missiles already in Cuba would be returned to the Soviet Union. In return, Kennedy committed the United States to never invading Cuba. Kennedy also secretly promised to withdraw the nuclear-armed missiles that the United States had stationed in Turkey in previous years. In the following weeks both superpowers began fulfilling their promises, and the crisis was over by late November. Cuba’s communist leader, Fidel Castro , was infuriated by the Soviets’ retreat in the face of the U.S. ultimatum but was powerless to act.

The Cuban missile crisis marked the climax of an acutely antagonistic period in U.S.-Soviet relations. The crisis also marked the closest point that the world had ever come to global nuclear war. It is generally believed that the Soviets’ humiliation in Cuba played an important part in Khrushchev’s fall from power in October 1964 and in the Soviet Union’s determination to achieve, at the least, a nuclear parity with the United States.

Cuban Missile Crisis Essay Prompts

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Table of Contents

Essay prompts in this lesson provide ready to use tools you can incorporate into your American History unit on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Prompts integrate research, media literacy, and critical thinking standards to fit a variety of needs. You can also adapt them to your specifications, but the best part is they will save you time!

The Cuban Missile Crisis Summary

Using the internet, encyclopedias, or other reliable sources, research information about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Write an essay summarizing this event in American history, and analyze its effect on current relations with Cuba.

Bay of Pigs

Before the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy authorized the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Research information about the connection between the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Soviet Union. Write an essay explaining this relationship, and how the outcome of this invasion resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Find information about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Write an essay evaluating why you believe the Soviet Union chose Cuba as its missile site and what steps you think could have been taken to avoid this crisis.

Soviet R-12 missile

Research information about the Soviet R-12 missile and its capabilities. Write an informative essay describing your findings with specific details from your sources. Include photographs with captions in your essay.

Locate information about the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, or EXXCOMM using the internet, encyclopedias, or other reliable sources. Write an essay explaining the purpose of the committee, its members, and the decisions they made during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Thirteen Days

Read the book, Thirteen Days by former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Then watch the film Thirteen Days (2000). Write an essay comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences in the way the events were depicted. Discuss which depiction you believe has more historical accuracy and why you believe so.

Research the deal made between the United States and the Soviet Union. Write an essay describing the deal and judge whether or not you think this was a good decision based on the situation at the time. Do you believe that this deal would still work today?

The Moscow-Washington Hotline

Find information about the infamous ''red phone'' or Moscow-Washington Hotline. Write an essay detailing its purpose and if and how it is used in present day. Evaluate whether you think this is an effective way to communicate with countries with which we are at odds.

The Court of Public Opinion

People often judge public figures such as the president of the United States. Find information and write an essay summarizing the public's perception of President John F. Kennedy's response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Include your opinion of what he did well and what you would have done differently.

Current Events

Conduct research into current events to determine what the current status of relations between the United States and Cuba is. Also, locate information about the current status of relations between the United States and Russia (Former Soviet Union). How have relations improved or worsened over time? Write an essay summarizing your findings and why you think current relations are the way they are.

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• Cuban Missile Crisis

Contextual Essay

Topic: How did the Cuban Missile Crisis affect the United States’ foreign policy in Cuba during the Cold War?

• Introduction

Despite the short geographical distance between the two countries, Cuba and the United States have had a complicated relationship for more than 150 years owing to a long list of historical events. Among all, the Cuban Missile Crisis is considered as one of the most dangerous moments in both the American and Cuban history as it was the first time that these two countries and the former Soviet Union came close to the outbreak of a nuclear war. While the Crisis revealed the possibility of a strong alliance formed by the former Soviet Union and Cuba, two communist countries, it also served as a reminder to U.S. leaders that their past strategy of imposing democratic ideology on Cuba might not work anymore and the U.S. needed a different approach. It was lucky that the U.S. was able to escape from a nuclear disaster in the end, how did the Cuban Missile Crisis affect the U.S. foreign policy in Cuba during the Cold War?

            To answer my research question, I searched on different academic databases related to Latin American studies, history, and political science. JSTOR, Hispanic American Historical Review, and Journal of American History were examples of databases that I used. I also put in keywords like “Cuban Missile Crisis,” “Cuba and the U.S.,” and “U.S. cold war foreign policy” to find sources that are related to my research focus. Furthermore, I have included primary and secondary sources that address the foreign policies the U.S. implemented before and after the Cuban Missile Crisis. In order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the impact of the Crisis on the U.S. foreign policy in Cuba, the primary sources used would include declassified CIA documents, government memos, photos, and correspondence between leaders. These sources would be the best for my project because they provided persuading first-hand information for analyzing the issue. I cut sources that were not trustworthy and did not relate to my topic. This research topic was significant because it reflected the period when Cuban-U.S. relations became more negative. By understanding the change in foreign policy direction after the Cuban Missile Crisis, we could gain a better understanding of the development of Cuban-U.S. relations since the Cold War. On top of that, it was also a chance for us to reflect upon the decision-making process and learn from the past. 

In my opinion, the Cuban Missile Crisis affected U.S. foreign policy in Cuba during the Cold War in three ways. First, the Crisis allowed the U.S. government to realize the importance of flexible and planned crisis management. Second, the Crisis reinforced the U.S. government’s belief in the Containment Policy. Third, the Crisis reminded the U.S. of the importance of multilateralism when it came to international affairs. 

In October 1962, the United States detected that the former Soviet Union had deployed medium-range missiles in Cuba. This discovery then led to a tense standoff that lasted for 13 days, which was later known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. In response to the Soviet Union’s action, the Kennedy administration quickly placed a “quarantine” naval blockade around Cuba and demanded the destruction of missile sites. [1] This decision was made carefully by the U.S. government because any miscalculation would lead to a nuclear war between Cuba, the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. After weighing possible options, the former Soviet Union finally announced the removal of missiles for an American pledge not to reinvade Cuba. [2] On the other hand, the U.S. also agreed to secretly remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey in a separate deal. [3] The Crisis was then over and the three countries involved were able to escape from a detrimental nuclear crisis.

After World War II, the United States and the former Soviet Union began battling indirectly through a plethora of ways like propaganda, economic aid, and military coalitions. This was known as the period of the Cold War. [4] The Cuban Missile Crisis happened amid the Cold War then caused the escalation of tension between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Despite the removal of nuclear missiles by the U.S.S.R., Moscow still decided to upgrade the Soviet nuclear strike force. This decision allowed the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to further their nuclear arms race as a result. [5] The Cold War tensions only softened after the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was negotiated and signed by both superpowers. [6] Additionally, both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. reflected upon the dangerous nuclear crisis and established the “Hotline” to reduce the possibility of war by miscalculation. [7]

• Crisis management

To begin, the success of solving the Cuban Missile Crisis has proven to the U.S. the importance of planning and flexibility when it came to crisis management with a tight time limit. This was supported by the CIA document “Major Consequences of Certain U.S. Courses of Action on Cuba” and the Dillon group discussion paper “Scenario for Airstrike Against Offensive Missile Bases and Bombers in Cuba.” Rather than devoting to existing plans, the Kennedy administration came up with flexible plans. Depending on the potential reactions of Cuba towards different hypothetical scenarios of the United States’ response after the deployment of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, the CIA document listed several modes of blockade and warnings that the U.S. could use to avoid a nuclear war. [8] The CIA document also presented the meanings of different military strategies to the U.S., the U.S.S.R., and Cuba.[9] In addition, the Dillon group discussion paper included the advantages and disadvantages of using airstrikes against Cuba.[10] Not only did these documents reveal the careful planning process that the U.S. government underwent under a pressurized time limit, but they also allowed the U.S. government to realize the uncertainty in the U.S.-Cuban relations and the U.S.-Soviet relations. The U.S. would need to have flexible military plans prepared to protect itself from a similar crisis and to sustain harmonious relationships with the U.S.S.R. and Cuba in the long run.  

• Containment Policy

Furthermore, the Cuban Missile Crisis has allowed the U.S. government to reflect upon the extent of the application of the Containment Policy to prevent the spread of communism. Since the U.S. became a superpower after World War II, it seldom faced threat from countries that were close to its border. The Crisis then was an opportunity for the U.S. to learn that it was possible that itself could be trapped by the “containment policy” by other communist countries like the Soviet Union and Cuba. This could explain why the U.S. chose not to invade or attack Cuba but to compromise with the U.S.S.R. by trading nuclear missiles for those in Cuba, despite intended to actively suppress communism. [11]

As mentioned in the White House document, “two extreme views on the proper role of force in the international relations were wrong – the view which rejects force altogether as an instrument of foreign policy; and the view that force can solve everything,” the Crisis made the U.S. understand that forceful use of containment policy on communist countries might not work all the time. [12] The U.S. would need to change its focus and turn to other diplomatic strategies to better protect its national interest.

• Multilateralism

In addition, the success of solving the Cuban Missile Crisis allowed the United States to understand the importance of multilateralism when it came to international conflicts with communist countries. Amid the Crisis, the U.S. actively sought support from different countries. This was clearly noted in the CIA daily report “The Crisis USSR/Cuba” that many countries like Spain, France, and Venezuela showed public support for the U.S. quarantine blockade policy on Cuba.[13] On top of the support of other countries, the U.S. also sought justification of the quarantine through the Organization of American States and made good use of the United Nations to communicate with the Soviets on the size of the quarantine zone.[14] All these measures made it difficult for Moscow or Cuba to further escalate the Crisis or interpret American actions as a serious threat to their interests. With the clever use of multilateralism, the U.S. was able to minimize the danger of the Crisis smoothly before any escalation of tensions. This experience also served as a good resource for solving troubling diplomatic problems with Cuba or other communist countries in the future.

            In conclusion, the Cuban Missile Crisis has several effects on the United States’ foreign policy in Cuba during the Cold War. To begin, the success of solving the Cuban Missile Crisis has proven to the U.S. the importance of planning and flexibility when it came to crisis management with a tight time limit. Additionally, the Cuban Missile Crisis has allowed the U.S. government to reflect upon the extent of the application of the Containment Policy to prevent the spread of communism. Furthermore, the Cuban Missile Crisis provided the United States a chance to understand the importance of multilateralism when it came to solving international conflicts with communist countries. By understanding more about the effects that the Cuban Missile Crisis had on U.S. foreign policy in Cuba, we were able to realize the vulnerability and insecurity in Cuban-U.S. relations. This allowed us to gain a more diverse view of the causes of the conflicting U.S.-Cuban relations in the 20th and 21st centuries.

• Primary Sources (10-15 sources)

CIA Special National Intelligence Estimate, “Major Consequences of Certain U.S. Courses of Action on Cuba,” October 20, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621020cia.pdf.

CIA daily report, “The Crisis USSR/Cuba,” October 27, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/621027%20The%20Crisis%20USSR-Cuba.pdf   

Dillon group discussion paper, “Scenario for Airstrike Against Offensive Missile Bases and Bombers in Cuba,” October 25, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621025dillon.pdf

White House, “Post Mortem on Cuba,” October 29, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621029mortem.pdf

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. “Cuban Missile Crisis,” Accessed February 25, 2020. https://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/ .

The U-2 Plane. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19.jpg

October 5, 1962: CIA chart of “reconnaissance objectives in Cuba.”

Graphic from Military History Quarterly of the U.S. invasion plan, 1962.

CIA reference photograph of Soviet cruise missile in its air-launched configuration.

October 17, 1962: U-2 photograph of first IRBM site found under construction.

[1] “The Cold War,” JFK Library, accessed May 5, 2020, https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-cold-war .

[3] “Cuban Missile Crisis.” JFK Library. Accessed May 5, 2020. https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/cuban-missile-crisis.

[4]  “The Cold War,” JFK Library, accessed May 5, 2020, https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-cold-war .

[8] CIA Special National Intelligence Estimate, “Major Consequences of Certain U.S. Courses of Action on Cuba,” October 20, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621020cia.pdf .

[10] Dillon group discussion paper, “Scenario for Airstrike Against Offensive Missile Bases and Bombers in Cuba,” October 25, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621025dillon.pdf

[11] CIA Special National Intelligence Estimate, “Major Consequences of Certain U.S. Courses of Action on Cuba,” October 20, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621020cia.pdf .

[12]  White House, “Post Mortem on Cuba,” October 29, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621029mortem.pdf

[13] CIA daily report, “The Crisis USSR/Cuba,” October 27, 1962. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/621027%20The%20Crisis%20USSR-Cuba.pd

[14] “TWE Remembers: The OAS Endorses a Quarantine of Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis, Day Eight).” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed May 4, 2020. https://www.cfr.org/blog/twe-remembers-oas-endorses-quarantine-cuba-cuban-missile-crisis-day-eight.

The Cuban Missile Crisis Essay

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Every country in the world aims at becoming secure from both internal and external enemies. As a result, each country endeavors to ensure that it has the required prowess to fight when the need arises. In this regard, production, as well as the purchase of weapons, takes up a substantial budget of any country’s budget. At one time, the need for protection and the urge to be prepared whenever the enemy attacks led to a standoff between the United States and Russia. This was referred to as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

As early as the 20 th century, the U.S. had protectorate powers over Cuba. As a result, the U.S. had made a lot of investments in Cuba. Being close to America, Cuba was a very crucial place that any enemy to the U.S. would obtain. The U.S. special plane flying over the Cuban airspace discovered missiles in 1962. These missiles had been planted there by Russia. Noticing this, America prepared itself for war against Russia.

Among the main causes of the missile tension was the presence of American missiles in Turkey, which is a neighbor of Russia. Notably, the U.S. had several missiles in Turkey, and this to Russia was a security threat. However, earlier efforts by Russia to make the U.S. remove these missiles had failed. Moreover, there had been tension between the U.S. and Russia on who should be the superpower of the world. Consequently, the presence of nuclear weapons in the neighborhood of Russia seemed as an aggression by the United States.

On the same note, the leadership of Cuba changed in 1959, and the new administration had close ties with Russia. The people who America had been supporting since the 1950s were not the ones in power. Consequently, all American owned companies in Cuba were nationalized with no compensation.

The American strongman in Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, became powerless in the new administration. The new ties between Russia and Cuba worried America since it was easier for anything to happen. Arguably, Russia took the act of the U.S. had missiles in Turkey as a way of positioning itself for war against Russia. They, therefore, had also to position themselves for the war of equal measure.

Nonetheless, though the tension lasted for almost two weeks, the war never broke out. After noting the presence of missiles in Cuba, America confronted Russia. Russia required that America removes its missiles from Turkey. Unknown to Russia was the fact that the missiles of the U.S. in Turkey were worn out and were due for removal. However, the President of U.S. would not publicly accept the offer for this could comprise his position as a tough man against communism and Russia in particular.

The U.S. knew that removal of its missiles was the solution. Consequently, the president resolved to comply with the requirement of Russia but not in public. Anyway, the U.S. was to do away with the missiles in Turkey but doing so in public would be tantamount to a defeat.

The U.S. president did not promise to remove the missiles from Turkey in public, but he did promise not to invade Cuba if Russia took away its missiles. In private, however, the American president agreed to take American missiles out of Turkey. On this agreement, the Cuban missile crisis was avoided peacefully though the American president was seen as a winner.

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Essay Samples on Cuban Missile Crisis

The cuban missile crisis: lessons in diplomacy and deterrence.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 stands as one of the most intense and dangerous episodes of the Cold War era. This essay delves into the multifaceted aspects of the crisis, exploring the causes, the decisions made by key players, and the lessons that have...

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The Cuban Missile Crisis: Breaking The Communication Barrier In The Cold War

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• John F. Kennedy

Short Term Effects Of Cuban Missile Crisis

Never has the world been closer to nuclear war as it was 13 days in October 1962. The Soviet Union and the US, both great nations, challenged each other immensely and almost let the rest of the world pay the price. The world held its...

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History and Development of the US and Cuban Relations

As one begins to take a look into the relations amongst different states, what they stand for, how they attempt to protect its borders, and the manner in which they behave towards other states, US and Cuba are amongst those states that tend to be...

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Results of Status Quo During The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis, as many historians would agree, was a period of time in which Americans were threatened by Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, and Soviets were threatened by American nuclear missiles from many directions, specifically Turkey. In an effort to maintain their fragile...

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The Causes of Cuban Missile Crisis

Amidst the Cold War, what factors ignited the Cuban Missile Crisis? And in the same breath, what factors ultimately succeeded in preventing the world’s greatest superpowers from pursuing the unprecedented and deadly threat of nuclear war? In the US, the crisis first gained attention in...

Cuban Missile Crisis: Miscommunication That Could Have Resulted in a Nuclear War

Disagreements, conflicts and discords can be said to be a continuing characteristic for human beings throughout the course of history regardless of time, place and especially one’s background since individuals have different beliefs and possess varying degrees of values. This can range from simple matters...

A Detailed Analysis of the Cuban Missile Crisis and How Relevant It Is Now

Imagine going about your life knowing that, at any given moment, you and everyone you know could be wiped out without warning at the push of a button. This was the reality for millions of people during the forty-five-year period after World War II now...

Best topics on Cuban Missile Crisis

1. The Cuban Missile Crisis: Lessons in Diplomacy and Deterrence

2. The Cuban Missile Crisis: Breaking The Communication Barrier In The Cold War

3. Short Term Effects Of Cuban Missile Crisis

4. History and Development of the US and Cuban Relations

5. Results of Status Quo During The Cuban Missile Crisis

6. The Causes of Cuban Missile Crisis

7. Cuban Missile Crisis: Miscommunication That Could Have Resulted in a Nuclear War

8. A Detailed Analysis of the Cuban Missile Crisis and How Relevant It Is Now

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The Cuban Missile Crisis ( Edexcel GCSE History )

Revision note.

Was the Cuban Missile Crisis Inevitable? - Timeline & Summary

Why did the Cuban Missile Crisis Happen?

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a result of decades of tension between the USA and the Soviet Union

The causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Khrushchev decided to place nuclear weapons in Cuba because:

NATO had missiles pointing at the Soviet Union in Turkey . The Soviet Union wanted the USA to experience what this nuclear threat felt like. Khrushchev may have wanted the missiles removed from Turkey

Khrushchev was under political pressure in the Soviet Union. His colleagues saw him as a weak leader after the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 . A victory in Cuba could restore his power and reputation

The Soviet Union became increasingly worried about the military power of the USA . Khrushchev needed Cuba to remain communist to strengthen the Soviet Union

Kennedy's Options to Deal With Cuba

Missiles in Cuba worried the USA

Soviet missiles on Cuba had significant political consequences for the USA . The US government felt determined to stop the Soviet missiles from arriving in Cuba

The US Defence Secretary , Robert McNamara, told Kennedy that the Soviet missiles would become operational two weeks after their arrival . This gave Kennedy time pressure to make his decision about how to react to missiles in Cuba

What options did Kennedy have to deal with Cuba?

A concept map showing the three options available to the USA over the issue of Cuba in 1962

Before making a decision, Kennedy had to consider:

How the American public would react to missiles on Cuba. Little to no reaction by the US government could cause widespread panic in the USA

How his decision would affect election results. Elections for the US Congress were in November. If Kennedy failed to deal with the situation in Cuba effectively, it would damage the success of his political colleagues, the Democrats

The impact of his decision on other Cold War issues . Kennedy worried that a strong reaction to Cuba would encourage Khrushchev to become more aggressive over the issue of Berlin

Kennedy had limited options to deal with Cuba

The US government had already attempted an invasion of Cuba during the Bay of Pigs incident in 1961

Kennedy knew that this would be unpopular in Cuba and may cause a major conflict within the country.

Bombing Cuba would make the USA look aggressive

Depending on the bomb that the USA used, it could cause a significant number of civilian deaths in Cuba

The Cold War was a war of propaganda

Kennedy had to make the best decision that would not damage the USA's reputation internationally

The Thirteen Days, 16th- 28th October 1962

The 'Thirteen Days' refers to the period of 16th October to 28th October 1962

Between these 13 days, the world became the closest it had ever been to nuclear war

Kennedy made a series of decisions about how to deal with the missile sites in Cuba

What happened in the Thirteen Days?

A flow diagram showing the progression of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the Thirteen Days of 16th October to 28th October 1962

The Soviet ships' reluctance to break the naval blockade  of Cuba was a key moment in the Cuban Missile Crisis

Kennedy had prepared the US military to sink the Soviet ships. This would have triggered a war between the USA and the Soviet Union

The actions of the Soviet ships proved that the Soviet Union was unwilling to cause direct armed conflict with the USA

The events of the Thirteen Days shocked the world

Kennedy's announcement had warned the US public about the possibility of nuclear warfare if the Soviet ships ignored the blockade

Internationally, people became even more afraid of the threat of nuclear warfare

Students are often overwhelmed by the amount of events that happened in a short space of time in the Cuban Missile Crisis. This revision note displays these events in a flow diagram and in a timeline. This should help you visualise how one event triggered the next event to happen. Knowing the order of the events in the Thirteen Days is crucial if a question asks you to write a narrative account of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Solution to the Cuban Missile Crisis

On 26th October, Khrushchev telegrammed Kennedy to resolve the issue of missiles in Cuba

He promised to remove the missile launch pads from Cuba if Kennedy promised not to invade the country

The next day (27th October), Kennedy received a further request from Khrushchev

Khrushchev added that he wanted the USA to remove the NATO missiles from Turkey

Kennedy's brother, Robert, secretly met with the Soviet ambassador in Washington

They verbally agreed to the removal of the US missiles in Turkey

The Hawks in the US government pressured Kennedy to go to war over Cuba

Kennedy refused to succumb to this pressure

By 28th October, Kennedy and Khrushchev had resolved the Cuban Missile Crisis

Kennedy agreed not to invade Cuba in return for the removal of the missile launch pads in the country

The US public had no knowledge of the removal of the US missiles in Turkey

Consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis on US-Soviet Relations

While both countries continued to threaten war, the Cuban Missile Crisis made the world safer

Khrushchev and Kennedy faced pressure from their government and the public to start a full-scale war with each other. They did not do this

The USA and the Soviet Union had more motivation to avoid a situation like the Cuban Missile Crisis from occurring again

Post-1962 agreements between the USA and the Soviet Union

The Cuban Missile Crisis had significant impacts on Kennedy and Khrushchev

Kennedy's popularity increased

The US public believed that Kennedy had dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis effectively. Kennedy looked stronger as the removal of US missiles in Turkey was unknown to the public

Kennedy had stood up against the Hawks in his government. The Cuban Missile Crisis had proved that he was a strong leader

Kennedy gained more confidence in dealing with the Soviet Union

Khrushchev's popularity decreased

While Khrushchev interpreted the Cuban Missile Crisis as a success for the Soviet Union, his military did not. His government believed that Khrushchev had humiliated the country by withdrawing their missiles from Cuba

Leonid Brezhnev ousted Khrushchev from power in 1964  

Overall, US-Soviet relations improved

Worked Example

Explain one consequence of the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

 One consequence of the Cuban Missile Crisis was better regulation of nuclear weapons (1) . The Cuban Missile Crisis had shown how dangerous the nuclear arms race had been. When the Soviet Union planned to place missiles on Cuba, it showed the US public the real threat of nuclear technology. If ICBMs had been placed in Cuba, the Soviet Union could have destroyed every major city in the USA  (2) . When nuclear war was avoided in 1962, it highlighted to the world the need to control the testing and production of nuclear weapons. For example, the Test Ban Treaty (August 1963) and The Outer Space Treaty (1967) restricted where nuclear weapons could be tested. This made the possibility of nuclear warfare between the USA and the Soviet Union less likely (1) .

In this example, you can see the development of wider knowledge of the period. The example has linked the development of ICBMs to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The existence of this type of nuclear weapon is significant to understanding why the Cuban Missile Crisis increased tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union. This answer would not be effective if it only discussed ICBMs. The example is linked back to the consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the creation of the Test Ban Treaty (August 1963) and The Outer Space Treaty (1967) to help better regulate nuclear weapons.

In a Superpower Relations exam paper, this question would ask for  two consequences . As a result, this question is worth 8 marks.

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Cuban Missile Crisis - Free Essay Examples and Topic Ideas

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a political standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In 1962, American spy planes discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the US. President John F. Kennedy demanded that the Soviets remove the missiles, and the world watched anxiously as the two superpowers engaged in a tense standoff. Eventually, the Soviets backed down and removed the missiles, averting a nuclear war. The crisis is widely regarded as the closest the world ever came to a nuclear war, and remains a landmark event in the history of the Cold War.

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Summary of the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the most significant single events in Cold War history. It started with installing Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba supported by the revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, which was discovered on October 14, 1962, by an American spy plane. The reason for this measure was the desire of the Soviets to increase the country’s nuclear strike capability. This occasion evoked the concerns of President John F. Kennedy regarding national security, and he called together the executive committee to “orchestrate their removal without initiating a wider conflict–and possibly a nuclear war” (History.com Editors). In this way, the principal participants in the matter were President John F. Kennedy with his advisors, Fidel Castro, Nikita Khrushchev, and the Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin. Their successful attempts to negotiate the problem allowed overcoming it and preventing the emergence of similar issues in the future.

The events of this crisis represented a series of communications between the Soviets and the American officials. They began with the discovery of missiles by the United States and the public warning to the Soviet Union, which was ignored. In response, President Kennedy discussed the options with his advisors and made a decision to order what he called a quarantine, which was, in fact, a blockade. The following search for “any remaining diplomatic resolutions” led to a compromise between the two leaders, according to which the missiles were dismantled (Office of the Historian). In turn, the United States also removed their missiles from Turkey but secretly, whereas the publicly known decision was to end quarantine. The consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis were establishing a direct telephone link between the Soviet Union and the United States and signing a nuclear Test Ban Treaty. In this way, it can be viewed as an example of a peaceful resolution of similar conflicts.

Works Cited

History.com Editors. “Cuban Missile Crisis.” History, 2019, Web.

Office of the Historian. “The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962.” Foreign Service Institute, Web.

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Cuban Missile Crisis - Essay Samples And Topic Ideas For Free

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 represents a precarious pinnacle of Cold War tensions, as the United States and the Soviet Union teetered on the brink of nuclear conflict. Essays could delve into the chronological unfolding of events, exploring the political and military maneuvering that characterized this thirteen-day standoff. They might also discuss the key figures involved, and how their decisions shaped the course and outcome of the crisis. Discussions might extend to the implications of the Cuban Missile Crisis on U.S.-Soviet relations, nuclear diplomacy, and global geopolitics, analyzing how it led to a re-evaluation of brinkmanship and a subsequent thaw in Cold War tensions. The discourse may also touch on the lessons learned from the crisis, exploring its relevance in contemporary discussions of nuclear proliferation and international relations. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Cuban Missile Crisis you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

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The Cold War

The cuban missile crisis.

On October 14th 1962, an American U-2 spy plane completed a relatively routine run over the island of Cuba, taking reconnaissance photographs (see picture) from an altitude of 12 miles. When the film was developed it revealed evidence of missiles being assembled and erected on Cuban soil. CIA and military analysts identified them as Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The presence of these weapons in neighbouring Cuba meant the Soviets could launch attacks on locations in the southern and eastern United States. This would give the Soviet Union a first-strike capacity, giving cities like Washington DC, New York and Philadelphia just a few minutes’ warning. President John F. Kennedy was briefed about the missiles four days later (October 18th). By the end of the day, Kennedy had formed an ‘executive committee’ (EXCOMM), a 13-man team to monitor and assess the situation and formulate response options. EXCOMM’s members included vice-president Lyndon Johnson, Kennedy’s brother Robert, defence secretary Robert McNamara and other advisors from the military and Department of State.

Over the next few days, Kennedy and EXCOMM weighed their options. They agreed that the US could not tolerate the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Diplomatic pressure on the Soviets to withdraw the missiles was also ruled out. Advice from EXCOMM suggested the Soviets would respond poorly to belligerent language or actions. An offer of exchange, such as the withdrawal or dismantling of US missile bases in Europe, might make the Kennedy administration appear weak, handing the Russians a propaganda victory. Kennedy’s military hierarchs recommended an airstrike to destroy the missiles, followed by a ground invasion of Cuba to eliminate Fidel Castro and his regime. But Kennedy – now more wary of military advice since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba – wanted to avoid a military confrontation with the Soviet Union. Instead, he authorised a naval blockade of the island. The US would draw a firm line around Cuba while seeking to avoid hostile action that risked triggering a nuclear war.

On October 22nd, Kennedy addressed the nation by television, announcing a “quarantine” of the Cuban island. He also said his administration would regard any missile attack launched from Cuba as an attack by the USSR, necessitating a full retaliatory response. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev described Kennedy’s quarantine as a “pirate action” and informed Kennedy by telegram that Soviet ships would ignore it. Kennedy reminded Khrushchev that the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba breached an earlier promise by the Soviet government. US Navy warships initiated their quarantine of Cuba. They allowed some small freighters through but stopped larger vessels for inspection, finding no military equipment. Meanwhile, American U-2s continued their missions over Cuba, flying every two hours. These overflights reported no pause or slow-down in the assembly of Soviet missiles.

There was no change in the situation after four days of quarantine. Kennedy came under pressure from his generals, who urged an airstrike to destroy the missiles before they became operational. At this point, a military confrontation between the US and USSR seemed almost inevitable, generating fear about a possible nuclear exchange. All levels of government hastily organised civil defence measures such as public bomb shelters; in most cases, these were capable of sheltering barely one-third of the population. Some citizens constructed their own shelters and stockpiled tinned food and other necessities. Many gathered in prayer in their local churches. Others packed up their belongings and took extended vacations with family members in remote areas where nuclear missiles were less likely to fall. In Soviet Russia, press censorship meant that most citizens were largely unaware of the crisis unfolding in the Caribbean.

The stalemate was broken by a series of developments across two days. On October 25th Adlai Stevenson, the US ambassador to the United Nations, confronted the Soviet ambassador in the Security Council with photographic evidence of the Cuban missiles. Given their previous denials, this publicly exposed Soviet dishonesty during the crisis. Around this time the White House also received a backroom offer to resolve the crisis, passed to a Washington reporter by a Soviet agent. On October 26th, the US State Department received a long, rambling letter, purportedly from Khrushchev. This letter promised to withdraw the Cuban missiles, provided the US pledged to never attack or invade Cuba. A follow-up message proposed a more direct exchange: the removal of the Cuban missiles, in return for the removal of American Jupiter missiles from Turkey and Italy. Kennedy agreed to this, provided the deal was not made public. The arrangement was finalised on the evening of October 27th, though it almost fell through after an American U-2 was shot down over Cuba by a Soviet surface-to-air missile. Kennedy resisted considerable pressure from his generals to retaliate. It later emerged the Soviets in Cuba had fired on the U-2 without authorisation from Moscow.

“The die was cast when the president met with his Executive Committee in the Oval Room at 2.30pm. It was a long and, toward the end, an unexpectedly bitter session. The choices put toward Kennedy that afternoon were two: begin with the naval blockade and, if need be, move up the ladder of military responses, rung by rung; or begin with an air strike then move almost certainly to a full-scale invasion of Cuba… The president paused gravely before speaking his mind. He said that he preferred to start with limited action. An air attack, he felt, was the wrong way to start… Kennedy was still expecting a Soviet move against Berlin, whatever happened in Cuba.” Elie Abel, journalist

The Cuban missile crisis was arguably the ‘hottest’ point of the Cold War, the closest the world has come to nuclear destruction. As US Secretary of State Dean Rusk noted toward the end of the crisis, “We were eyeball to eyeball and the other guy just blinked”. Information revealed years later suggested that the crisis could easily have deteriorated into a nuclear exchange. Soviet officers in Cuba were equipped with about 100 tactical nuclear weapons – and the authority to use them if attacked. Castro, convinced that an American invasion was imminent, urged both Khrushchev and Soviet commanders in Cuba to launch a pre-emptive strike against the US. And during the naval quarantine, a US destroyer dropped depth charges on a Soviet submarine which, unbeknownst to the Americans, was armed with a 15 kiloton nuclear missile and authority to use it. Given that several Soviet officers were authorised to fire nuclear weapons of their own accord, Kennedy’s delicate handling of the situation seems judicious. In the wake of the crisis, the Soviets reorganised their command structure and nuclear launch protocols, while the White House and Kremlin installed a ‘hotline’ to ensure direct communication in the event of a similar emergency.

1. The Cuban missile crisis unfolded in October 1962, following the discovery by US spy planes of Soviet missile sites being installed on nearby Cuba.

2. Missiles in Cuba gave the Soviet Union a ‘first-strike’ capacity. Unwilling to tolerate this, President Kennedy formed a committee to orchestrate their removal.

3. Considering all options from diplomatic pressure to an airstrike or invasion, EXCOMM settled on a naval “quarantine” of all Soviet ships sailing to Cuba.

4. The Cuban crisis and the US blockade carried a significant risk of military confrontation between the US and USSR, with the consequent risk of nuclear war.

5. The crisis was eventually resolved through a secret deal, in which the Soviets withdrew the Cuban missiles in return for the withdrawal of American Jupiter missiles from Turkey and Italy.

A CIA appraisal of the political, economic and military situation in Cuba (August 1962) A CIA report on the Soviet-backed military build up in Cuba (September 1962) US intelligence report says the installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba is unlikely (September 1962) The first intelligence reports of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba (October 1962) An evaluation of the Soviet missile threat in Cuba, by US intelligence bodies (October 1962) Kennedy and his advisors discuss a response to the Cuban missiles (October 1962) President John F Kennedy announces a naval quarantine of Cuba (October 1962) Castro responds to Kennedy’s announcement of a blockade (October 1962) Adlai Stevenson confronts Soviet ambassador Zorin in the UN Security Council (October 1962) Khrushchev’s letter to Kennedy urging a resolution of the crisis (October 1962) Delegates from the US and USSR debate the Cuban missile crisis in the UN (October 1962) Kennedy’s alternative speech announcing an attack on Cuba (October 1962) The Missiles of October (1974 film) Thirteen Days (2000 film) Robert McNamara reflects on the Cuban missile crisis (2003)

Content on this page is © Alpha History 2018. This content may not be republished or distributed without permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use . This page was written by Jennifer Llewellyn, Jim Southey and Steve Thompson. To reference this page, use the following citation: J. Llewellyn et al, “The Cuban missile crisis”, Alpha History, accessed [today’s date], https://alphahistory.com/coldwar/cuban-missile-crisis/.

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The Cuban Missile Crisis

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The Cuban Missile Crisis Essay

The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 presents an integrated, comprehensive record of U.S. decisionmaking during the most dangerous U.S.-Soviet confrontation in the nuclear era. Some 3,400 unique records relevant to the crisis, totalling approximately 17,500 pages, are reproduced in the microfiche. Much of the documentation focuses on U.S. decisionmaking during what Robert Kennedy called the “Thirteen Days” of the missile crisisfrom McGeorge Bundy’s October 16, 1962 briefing of President Kennedy on the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba to Nikita Khrushchev’s October 28 decision to withdraw the weapons. The numerous intelligence reports, diplomatic cables, political analyses, military situation reports, and meeting minutes included in the set portray both the deliberative process and the execution of critical decisions made by the Kennedy administration during the crisis.

In order to place the missile crisis in its historical perspective, many of the documents in the collection describe the events which formed the immediate backdrop to the crisis: the United States’ renewed attempts to overthrow Fidel Castro following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961; U.S. and Soviet nuclear capabilities and doctrine in the early 1960s; the deployment of U.S. IRBMs to forward bases in Europe; and increasing concern in the Kennedy administration over the resurgence of Soviet military aid to Cuba in the summer of 1962. Documentation focussing on two significant events which defined United States relations with Cuba and the Soviet Union in 1961the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Berlin crisishave been excluded from the collection. First, a focus on the missile crisis itself was necessary in order to guarantee the intellectual coherence of the set. Second, the volume of documentation available on the Bay of Pigs and Berlin made it difficult to identify a usable number of key documents that could be extracted for inclusion in this collection. (A separate document collection produced by the National Security Archive on the Berlin Crises, 1958-1962, is forthcoming.)Contrary to many published accounts of the Cuban missile crisis, the dispute did not immediately end with the Soviet decision on October 28 to remove the missiles from Cuba. For three more weeks, tensions between the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union ran high over several unresolved issues. The documents in the collection trace negotiations held in November 1962 over verification of the missile withdrawal, the U.S. non-invasion”guarantee,” and the question of Soviet IL-28 bombers and troops remaining on the island. To provide intellectual coherence to the collection, documents in the set also cover the effect of the crisis on overall U.S. policy toward Cuba during the remainder of the Kennedy administration. Finally, the Cuban Missile Crisis Project has collected several official retrospective studies of the missile crisis, including a 200-page Department of State internal history of the crisis, comprehensive reports describing the actions of military commands and units during the missile crisis, and records relating to reviews of the Kennedy-Khrushchev understanding produced in the 1970s and 1980s

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How 1 Russian Submarine During the Cuban Missile Crisis Nearly Started World War III

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During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, a Soviet submarine, B-59, came dangerously close to launching a nuclear torpedo at U.S. forces due to relentless pressure from American depth charges.

Summary and Key Points: During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, a Soviet submarine, B-59, came dangerously close to launching a nuclear torpedo at U.S. forces due to relentless pressure from American depth charges.

-Captain Valentin Savitsky, believing war had started, ordered the launch.

-However, the protocol required unanimous approval from the submarine’s officers. Vasili Arkhipov, the flotilla commodore, refused to consent, persuading Savitsky to surface instead.

-This crucial decision prevented a potential nuclear conflict. Arkhipov's restraint and judgment are credited with averting a global catastrophe during one of the tensest moments of the Cold War.

How One Soviet Officer Averted Nuclear War During the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis is most commonly conveyed as the story of U.S.-Soviet diplomatic and military posturing that brought the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation over a thirteen-day span in October 1962. But even as President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev raced to avert the  abyss of destruction  in a series of hurried of negotiations, a Soviet submarine off Florida’s coast came within a hair's breadth of plunging the world into a nuclear catastrophe-- but for the actions of a lone Soviet navy officer.

In early 1962, the Soviet security establishment devised a daring plan to counter the first-strike threat posed by the presence of U.S. Jupiter Medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) in Turkey. Operation Anadyr, colorfully described by  Khruschev  as “putting one of our hedgehogs down the Americans’ trousers,” entailed the transfer and deployment of three nuclear-capable R-12 MRBM and two R-14 intermediate-range ballistic missile (ICBM) battalions, among numerous other types of weapons ranging from tank divisions to missile boats, to Fidel Castro’s Cuba.

Operation Anadyr was, down to the name itself, designed around a series of clever diplomatic, military, and logistical ruses that successfully concealed the cross-continental movement of tons of Soviet military hardware in Washington’s backyard. Once in Cuba, however, the nuclear missile installations were quickly discovered and  extensively photographed  by U-2 and F-8 surveillance planes; the crisis began in earnest on October 22, when President Kennedy moved to impose a blockade, which he called a “quarantine” for diplomatic expediency, on Cuba.

The blockade created a steel ring around four diesel-electric Foxtrot-class submarines-- the B-4, B-36, B-130, and B-59, each armed with one nuclear-capable T-5 torpedo and boasting a total capacity of 22 torpedoes spread across 10 tubes. These vessels were  dispatched  to the Cuban port of Mariel at the beginning of October, to provide the Castro regime with a nuclear-armed missile submarine deterrent against a prospective US invasion.

All four vessels were  detected , partly as a result of numerous malfunctions sustained from being ordered to travel to Cuba at a breakneck speed of 10 knots, and partly due to ill-advised radio communication practices. The anti-submarine warfare (ASW) forces of the U.S. Navy set out to hunt the four Soviet submarines, unaware that they could be carrying nuclear payloads. The ASW was under strict orders not to use anything other than practice depth charges (PDC), low-powered explosive devices meant to signal to hostile submarine operators that they had been spotted. Soviet high command was alerted to these signals, but  subsequent research  has shown that this knowledge never trickled down to the four Soviet submarine commanders; indeed, each one of the four captains perceived the PDC detonations as hostile military actions.

Despite the risks inherent in these methods, two of the four submarines were successfully forced to surface and left Cuban waters without a direct confrontation; another stayed submerged for long enough to lose the ASW patrol and return home. But the captain of the B-59, Valentin Savitsky, insisted on calling the ASW’s bluff, refusing to surface in spite of his ship’s depleted battery. After four days of nonstop PDC shelling, internal temperatures had shot up to intolerable levels and crew members were beginning to faint from oxygen deprivation.

Gripped by paranoia and cut off from Moscow, Captain Savitstky concluded that the war had already begun and that the only honorable way out was to fire the B-59’s nuclear warhead at their ASW pursuers: “We’re gonna blast them now! We will die, but we will sink them all – we will not become the shame of the fleet,” he  exclaimed  to his exhausted crew.

The B-52 was already cleared by Moscow to use any force that is deemed necessary, but protocol required all officers aboard the vessel to unanimously approve the decision to deploy nuclear warheads. The ship’s political officer, Ivan Maslennikov, gave his consent. This would normally have been all that’s required to initiate a chain of events likely culminating in a third world war. As it happens, there was a third officer aboard the B-59 on that fateful day: Vasili Arkhipov, second captain of the B-59 and commodore of the entire Cuban submarine flotilla. Witness accounts report that Arkhipov single-handedly stonewalled the nuclear torpedo launch, convincing Savitsky to surface and await further orders from Moscow.

The B-59 finally emerged, surrounded by U.S. warships and helicopters, flying the Soviet flag and demanding that the ASW patrol stop their “provocative actions.” The crew was gaunt and harried, but not defeated-- they could perhaps be forgiven for indulging in an obstinate pride, having persisted until the very last moment in the face of hellish living conditions and unrelenting military pressure.

Then there is Arkhipov, who retained his presence of mind in the direst circumstances and refused to follow his colleagues into delirious martyrdom. There is, admittedly, little comfort in the notion that one man’s chance intervention was all that stood in the way of a conflagration that could have spiraled into a global nuclear war. And yet, the world bears a debt of gratitude for his stubborn refusal to succumb to baser instincts; for looking into the abyss, and having the restraint to recoil at what he saw. In that sense, we could use more Arkhipovs. 

About the Author 

Dr. Mark Episkopos was a frequent contributor to The National Interest and a former research assistant at the Center for the National Interest as well as reporter for the National Interest.

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Fact Check Team: Biden Administration relaxes Cuban sanctions

by JANAE BOWENS | The National Desk

WASHINGTON (TND) — The Biden Administration is relaxing some economic sanctions against Cuba. The move allows private business owners in Cuba to access U.S. banks and online payment systems for the first time since the 1960s.

Restrictions were in place because, in 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew Cuba's U.S.-backed government and established a socialist state instead.

The change is being made because Biden Administration officials say they want to "support the evolution of a freer, more open society in Cuba."

These steps follow upon an announcement that was made in May 16th, 2022, which concluded several measures to support the evolution of a freer, more open society in Cuba. One of the steps mentioned at that time was increasing support for independent Cuban entrepreneurs. And we recognize that this is a growing and dynamic sector of economic activity in Cuba, where people are gaining greater independence from the state, and we felt that it was essential as part of the Biden administration’s Cuba policy to ensure that this sector continues to expand and is supported.

Increasing opportunities for independent Cuban entrepreneurs is a critical tenet of our overall Cuba policy, and today we are amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations which are managed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control at Treasury to implement aspects of this policy to support entrepreneurship and free enterprise in Cuba.

At the same time, the Administration admits the "communist experiment in Cuba has failed," and Cuba is in crisis.

The international organization, Human Rights Watch paints a bleak picture of the issues in Cuba. The group claims Cuba's government continues to quell and punish protesters who have been speaking out against the COVID-19 response, lack of food and medicines, blackouts, shortages, crumbling living conditions, and other established restrictions on their rights. As a result, many Cubans are leaving their country.

However, the Biden Administration reports Cuba has allowed for more small and medium-sized businesses in the past few years with more than 11,000 registered on the island. Cuba's private sector now employs one-third of the citizens.

Cuban American Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., said the decision makes the U.S. appear foolish.

“As I warned, the Biden Admin is now giving the ‘Cuban private sector’ access to the U.S. financial system,” Rep. Salazar wrote on X. “This would make a mockery of American law, considering no progress has been made toward freedom on the Island and repression has intensified.”

There are also concerns seeing as the U.S. still lists Cuba on the State Sponsor Terrorism List.

Johana Tablada, deputy director of the U.S. department in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, told the Associated Press the steps were “limited” and will do little to ease the embargo or sanctions that have most hurt the Cuban people.

“If these measures are serious and truly intended to bring benefits to the population, even if they are going to bring benefits to a part of the population, they will not be hindered by the Cuban government,” Tablada added.

A Strained Relationship

In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew Cuba's U.S.-backed government and established a socialist state allied with at the time what was the Soviet Union.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations , in 1961, the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis started when the Soviet Union secretly installed nuclear missiles on the island following what the Council on Foreign Relations calls a "botched CIA attempt" to overthrow Castro. In October 1962, the U.S. discovered the nuclear missiles which led to a 13-day showdown between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that threatened to turn into a nuclear war. In the end, the Soviet Union withdrew the missiles. The U.S. pledged not to invade Cuba and to remove U.S. nuclear missiles from Turkey.

The policies regarding Cuba have gone back and forth in recent history. President Barack Obama worked to restore diplomatic ties with the communist island and expanded travel and trade. He also took Cuba off of the State Sponsors of Terrorism List. President Donald Trump reversed many of those efforts and hit Cuba with new sanctions and a spot back on that terrorism list. President Joe Biden has loosened some restrictions in the wake of protests and what the Council on Foreign Relations calls a "renewed crackdown by Havana." The U.S. is seeing a surge of Cuban immigrants leading to new challenges for Biden.

• Want to stop a third world war? Pick up the phone

America’s and China’s defence ministers will meet in Singapore. They need to talk more

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O N COMING to power Jim Hacker, the protagonist of “Yes, Prime Minister”, a British comedy series, asks about the hotline to the Kremlin. It works only “theoretically”, he is told; once they reached a switchboard operator who “didn’t seem to speak much English”. What’s more, using it “tends to create unnecessary panic at the other end”.

The farce springs to mind for those who, these days, urgently try to speak to China about security frictions in Asia, from its “grey-zone” bullying of neighbours over disputed islands and shoals to its wargames around Taiwan. The Philippines has a hotline to China’s foreign ministry. But when it calls to discuss China’s water-blasting of its coastguard ships, the Chinese either do not answer, or say the hotline is not for “complaints”, or accuse the Filipinos of causing trouble. Japan’s defence-ministry hotline has not stopped intensified Chinese probing of contested waters.

America, especially, wants military-to-military (“mil-mil”) communications with China, akin to those of the cold war with the Soviet Union. At a time of deep geopolitical rivalry, with the air and seas in Asia abuzz with military forces, America says open lines of communication would help prevent incidents from sliding into war. China, though, regards military contacts not as prudence but as a favour: granted in times of goodwill and withheld in periods of displeasure.

Mil-mil contacts were halted after a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of America’s House of Representatives, in 2022. Chinese jets and warships harassed American ones with risky moves. Now tensions have eased a bit following a summit in San Francisco last November between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, the American and Chinese presidents. Unsafe encounters are much reduced. Mil-mil meetings are resuming.

That will be a relief for Asia’s defence bigwigs at this week’s Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual talkfest in Singapore. They don’t want to be caught in a war between China, their main economic partner, and America, the security guarantor for many. Last year Lloyd Austin, America’s defence secretary, could merely shake hands with his Chinese counterpart, General Li Shangfu, over dinner. Little matter; General Li was soon purged.

This time Mr Austin is set for a full bilateral with the new man, Admiral Dong Jun. They spoke over video in April. Similarly, America’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has had a video call with his opposite number. The Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, a forum on safety at sea, has also resumed.

Nevertheless, any military contact will be halting. For one thing, notes Rush Doshi, until recently a White House official, worsening relations between the mainland and Taiwan could strain mil-mil contacts when they matter most. China recently held two days of “punishment” military exercises, encircling the island, after the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te.

Moreover, the main warfighters—the heads of America’s Indo-Pacific Command and of China’s eastern and southern theatres—have yet to talk. And in China’s hierarchical system, notes Mr Doshi, many of China’s brass will shrink from contact with Americans, fearing it “can only bring trouble”. Pentagon officials assume that “the Chinese will go dark” in the early phase of any crisis. Nevertheless, Americans still think talking is better than not talking; nuances in formulaic Chinese remarks can still yield insights.

For a sense of the dangers, consider the back and forth between American forces and the People’s Liberation Army ( PLA ) as Robin Hsu, a military enthusiast, does from a hilltop in southern Taiwan. Overlooking the vital Bashi Channel, his radio comes alive with a stentorian warning from the PLA to an American jet—probably a “Rivet Joint” surveillance plane nearby: “You have entered airspace over China’s contiguous zone.” Back comes a drawl: “Relaaaaaax! I’m in international airspace.” Minutes later, another warning: “This is Chinese naval warship. You are approaching me. What is your intention?” Plainly, relations are far from relaxed.

Indeed, China uses such risk to warn America: if you don’t want a mishap, pull back. America, by contrast, learned during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 that risk must be mitigated because superpower confrontations can escalate to nuclear war. All of which prompts some at the Pentagon to ask: does another Cuban missile crisis have to happen before China comes to its senses? ■

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “High stakes on the high seas”

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