The Cuban Misile Crisis

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Cuban Missile Crisis Analysis Report:

The impact of nuclear weapons between two Superpowers

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the one and only time mankind could have ended the world in less than a few hours. The concluding result of this 13 day battle between the top two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, could have impacted the world in such catastrophic ways, resulting in a zero sum game. This particular game is defined by one side winning by firing their weapons first and eliminating the opponent. However, in the end the two powers came to a mutual understanding of contentment with both sides removing their nuclear weapons and respecting each other’s privacy; this making it a non-zero sum game.

In order to understand where the Cuban Missile Crisis originated from, it is important to examine the events leading up to it. In 1961 the Soviet Union was under rule of Nikita Khrushchev. At the time, the United States was in the middle of a political transition with the election of John F. Kennedy, more commonly referred to as JFK ("John F. Kennedy"). With Khrushchev’s establishment of power spreading out across the country, he gained knowledge of the U.S. planting nuclear weapons in Turkey facing the Soviet Union only 300 miles away (History.com).

While JFK wasn’t officially inaugurated until 1961, he was briefed on a plan by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Eisenhower administration of training Cuban exiles for an invasion on their homeland, which was under the power of Fidel Castro ("Bay of Pigs").This attack on Cuba’s shores is more famously referred to as the Bay of Pigs. The United States saw this as an opportunity since Castro was just coming into power after the armed revolt that had ...

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...useum . JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. Web. 24 Mar 2014.

Donald, Aida DiPace. John F. Kennedy and the New Frontier. New York: American Book-Stratford Press, Inc, 1966. Print.

History.com, . "Cuban Missile Crisis." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 13 Mar 2014. .

"Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971)." Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar 2014. .

"Revelations from the Russian Archives." Col War: Cuban Missile Crisis. Library of Congress, 22 07 2010. Web. 24 Mar 2014. .

United States. White House. John F. Kennedy. Washington: , Print. .

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