Introduction
In the early 1960s, the United States considered the rapprochement between Cuba, led by Fidel Castro, and the Soviet Union unacceptable. The presence of communist neighbors inflicted reputational costs on the United States and was a direct physical and military danger. The unsuccessful Bay of Pigs Invasion harmed the image of then-President Kennedy. He and a group of advisers were tense about the possible escalation of the conflict. Fidel Castro openly expressed his support for the Soviet Union and his sympathies. It alarmed President Kennedy, and at the same time, given the failure in the Bay of Pigs, publicly demonstrated the weakness of the United States in the international arena. The ideological struggle called the Cold War looked like communist ideas were winning now. The Cold War complicated geopolitical relations as both countries manipulated the possession of nuclear weapons. The latest weapons were located in the allied nations and posed a danger to neighbors. Examples were Cuba and Turkey for the USSR and the USA, respectively.
Cuban Missile Crisis
After defeating Fidel Castro, the US discovered that the USSR and Cuba had secretly agreed to protect the island from repeated invasions. Such protection was tactically justified by the failed coup and the presence of nuclear weapons that could be located in Cuba. After conducting military air operations, photographic evidence of military buildup in Cuba was obtained. President Kennedy decided to condemn it and call for disarmament publicly. Immediately after this, an army quarantine order on the island was lowered from above. A correspondence began between Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy. It was essential to demonstrate to the two sides their readiness to resolve the conflict and the absence of murderous intentions. Time zones complicated correspondence, and Nikita Khrushchev sent letters to President Kennedy at night (Plokhy, 2021). Aspects of the communication were kept secret, and now and then, information appeared about supposedly adopted decisions in the USSR. The USSR dictated their terms and demanded freedom from American nuclear weapons in Turkey. A secret meeting between Robert Kennedy and Ambassador Dobrynin was able to reduce the escalation eventually, but the final decision remained with the word of President Kennedy.
Theoretical Argument
There are three leading causes of this missile crisis, and all of them are, in one way or another, related to a complex political context. The first reason was the Cold War between the USSR and the USA, which made the world shudder. The impossibility of a direct clash between the US and the USSR led powers to a struggle for influence in certain parts of the globe. Cuba has become another front of the confrontation between the two systems. For Nikita Khrushchev, sympathy for the Soviet Union became an attempt to replace forces and balance them (Craig & Logevall, 2020). American missiles stationed in Italy and Turkey, near the Soviet Union, found their revenge in Nikita Khrushchev’s proposal to Fidel Castro. As a ruler, Fidel Castro had the motivation to use the current crisis for exceptional purposes.
The charismatic revolutionary leader Fidel Castro won the clash with the American army. It raised his authority and reputation and attracted increased attention from the Soviet Union. Seeing the passion of the unprotected Cubans, Nikita Khrushchev gave them support. Subsequently, Fidel Castro would become a welcome guest in the USSR for many years, kindly visiting Leonid Brezhnev and creating historical precedents. Land reform and persecution of US supporters in Cuba led the United States to attempt to overthrow Castro’s rule. Cuba was forced to turn to the USSR for help in 1962, beginning their strong friendship and political alliance. For the Americans, the defeat in Cuba has become an image problem. An agitated situation remained in the White House, which intensified with the confirmation of the deployment of missiles.
The third reason was the arms race, which strained the government of the USSR. The militarized country was afraid of rival weapons, so Nikita Khrushchev demanded the withdrawal of missiles from Turkey (Hershberg, 2020). Turkish missiles were directed at the USSR to deter the aggressor, which the United States did not trust. Conversations with the Soviet ambassador to the United States forced them to reconsider these views and make concessions, risking their reputation and military costs. The joint declaration of conditions made countries trusts each other at a critical moment, preserving world peace.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the main reason for the conflict’s end is President Kennedy’s correct rhetoric and tactics and the correct definition of risks. Kennedy’s political leadership and his trust in his rival became, for many years, an example of building positive relations between rich powers. Despite the peak of the Cold War and mutual recriminations, President Kennedy could correctly calculate the risks without striving to protect his reputation and show strength with all his might. His leadership demonstrated that the value of human life is far greater than reputational costs and military defeats like the Bay of Pigs. The philanthropic rhetoric and the work of the White House helped to quickly coordinate forces to resolve the global issue and to confirm that there was no danger from the USSR.
References
Craig, C., & Logevall, F. (2020). America’s Cold War: The politics of insecurity. Belknap Press.
Hershberg, J. G. (2020). Soviet-Brazilian relations and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Journal of Cold War Studies, 22(1), 175–209.
Plokhy, S. (2021). Nuclear folly: A history of the Cuban Missile Crisis. WW Norton & Company.