HLS 6030: The Escalation of Tensions During the Cuban Missile Crisis

REFLECTION
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How Kennedy’s and Khrushchev mindsets and perceptions of each other contributed to the escalation of tensions during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Politically, Kennedy who was the President of the United States could not see eye to eye with Soviet Union’s President, Khrushchev. President Kennedy had just assumed office when he had to deal with the Berlin Missile crisis before he was confronted by the presence of Soviet Union missiles in Cuba. This was going to be a turn back for America as Kennedy had failed to save Cuba after the government was overthrown by invaders. The Cuban Missile Crisis introduced the military tension between these two presidents as Kennedy publicly announced the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles in Cuba. This triggered the tension between the two as Khrushchev was focused on his mission. To add to the injury, Kennedy argued that if Khrushchev were to continue with his plan, then America would have no choice but to fight back by enacting a naval blockade around Cuba as well as apply military force if need be. This made the Cuban Missile crisis even worse as the world was trying to adjust to the existence of nuclear weapons and the disastrous war. Both Khrushchev and Kennedy had varying ideas on how Cuba should be dealt with but could not bring themselves to agree with one another. As such, Kennedy had to agree to Khrushchev’s idea of withdrawing the Cuban missiles if the U.S promised not to invade Cuba. The varying mindsets and perceptions of both Khrushchev and Kennedy almost led a nuclear war that would have damaged the whole world. The dramatic standoff between these two also led to the withdrawal of U.S missiles from Turkey as Khrushchev argued if he were not allowed to use his weapons, the United States should also not get the chance to. Although the military and political tension between the two lasted for only 13 days, it seemed like a year to the people as this would have resulted in a nuclear war.
References
Chomsky, N (2012). "Cuban missile crisis: how the US played Russian roulette with nuclear war". The Guardian. Retrieved fr...