The Cuban Missile Crisis – On the Brink of Destruction?

The Cuban Missile Crisis – On the Brink of Destruction?

The Cuban Missile Crisis is often cited as one of; if not the closest, the world has come to nuclear war. Who exactly was responsible for the crisis, and more importantly could it have been avoided altogether? In addition to this, how much of the fear during the missile crisis was actually grounded in reality?

 

It is difficult to say who was responsible for the missile crisis; it depends on whether one believes the Soviet Union was justified in attempting to level the playing field. After all, the USA already had nuclear weapons known to be placed in Turkey and Southern Italy. The missiles placed in Cuba proved to an effective bargaining chip in this sense, as it allowed these US nuclear weapons to later be removed. However, the blame can also be placed on the USSR, as they knew by secretly placing missiles in Cuba; it would leave the US no choice but to escalate when the missiles were found.[1]

However, did the Missile Crisis even have to happen in the first place? The Cuban Revolution that ousted US-backed Batista from power was not explicitly communist in nature. Although Castro was leftist, he did not necessarily identify with the Soviet form of communism.[2] Yet US foreign policy after the Cuban Revolution drove Castro away from having friendly relations with the US. Instead, it seemed the USSR was the only option for Cuba to seek protection from its powerful neighbour bent on removing Castro from power.

There is debate over whether the world was actually in danger of imminent destruction during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Or whether it was simply a game of realpolitik between the two superpowers in order to make each other look weak on the international stage. After all both the USA and USSR were still vulnerable to each other’s nuclear weapons even after the missiles were removed from Cuba, Turkey and Southern Italy.[3] This meaning the nuclear weapons placed there were not the end of the world since an apocalypse was possible even without them placed in Cuba. What the Cuban Missile Crisis did achieve was make John F. Kennedy look weak, he allowed America’s greatest enemy to sneak in nuclear weapons right under their noses. It effectively left JFK no choice but to escalate the situation in order to regain face.[4] JFK did indeed manage to save face and the final negotiations in fact embarrassed Khrushchev, at least publicly. Soviet Missiles were publicly removed from Cuba, whereas American missiles were quietly removed from Turkey and Italy.

All in all, the Cuban Missile Crisis was not the danger it looked to be in hindsight. However, the key word here is hindsight; to ordinary citizens in the 60s the missile crisis must have felt all too dangerous and imminent. In reality, both nations were in danger of nuclear destruction regardless of the missiles in Cuba. The Missile Crisis proved to a way to humiliate JFK and get US missiles removed from Turkey and Italy.

Chris Kinslow

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[1] G. Allison, Z. Philip, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. (New York, Longman, 1991). pp. 94–95

[2] R.E. Quirk, Fidel Castro. (New York, W.W. Norton, 1993) pp. 14-16  

[3] G. Allison, Z. Phillip, Essence of Decision pp. 111-116             

[4] Ibid.