The Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Premier Khrushchev

Words: 557

Pages: 3

Open Document

.The onus of a decision is now back on Soviet Premier Khrushchev. He must now decide if he is willing to risk a nuclear war just for the prestige of Brian the protector of the (hoped for) worldwide communist revolution. When the quarantine was announced, there were 22 Soviet ships headed to Cuba. 14 of those had turned back around, but as of October 25, there were still eight ships headed directly toward the American blockade. We can now say with certainty that the game is afoot. One of the most important questions we can ask is,... what kind of game are we playing?. Are we playing British philosophers Bertrand Russell's game of "chicken" and brinksmanship whereby two hooligans drive their hot rods directly at each other... daring each other not to …show more content…
I do not think the "chicken" analogy precisely fits the Cuban missile crisis. The players (President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev) are not acting simultaneously, they are rather acting alternatively in sequence with each player basing his next move upon what his adversary did last. The missile crisis is in that respect like the game of chess. In the game of chess, aggressive moves can give you a forceful initiative that gives you chances to win even if you are materially behind. This was the situation that Khrushchev found himself in and may explain why he was willing to take such a huge risk trying to get these missile sites operational before the United States found out. There was a very important aspect of the missile crisis which resemble the strategic decisions made in poker a lot more than the decisions made at the chessboard. Chess you see, is a game of perfect information. Both players can see the entire chess board upon every move and nothing is hidden. Poker, by contrast, is a game of imperfect information. Neither player knows the exact strength of the other players cards. Every player must gauge the strength of his hand based upon how strongly or weakly the other

Essay about Cuban Missile

The Cuban missile crisis and its aftermath was the most serious U.S.-Soviet crisis of the Cold War even though the crisis was very short, the crisis was so extreme it finally caught President Kennedy’s eye. The Cuban missile crisis was also the time were the world almost came to nuclear war. The United states armed forces were ready to attack whenever Cuba was going to attack, so Cuba had nuclear missiles aimed right at the Untied States if the United States armed forces invaded the island. However…

Words 500 - Pages 2

Cuban Missile Crisis Essay

Documents and Film 11/27/12 One Hell of a Gamble The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 brought the United States and the Soviet Union closer to nuclear war than perhaps any other incident in the Cold War (1946– 1991). The crisis began on October 14, 1962, when American U-2 spy planes flying over Cuba brought back photographs revealing that sites for medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles were under construction. The Cuban missiles posed a serious strategic problem for President John…

Words 1065 - Pages 5

The Cuban Missile Crisis Essay

The Cuban Missile Crisis Fifty years ago, The Cuban Missile Crisis made a historic event which put many countries in the world on panic of a nuclear war. United States and Russia nearly started a third world war during The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The Cuban Revolution, Communism, and military competition, were causes that put the world at the edge of a disastrous third world war. However, that was not the effect, thanks to the President at that time who was John F Kennedy and Premier Nikita…

Words 831 - Pages 4

Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a key turning point of the Cold War. Then President John F. Kennedy discovered that the Soviet Union had nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba. The United States had a serious issue with the Soviet Union having nuclear missiles in Cuba. President J.F.K. and Nikita Khrushchev confronted one another knowing that the other had the power to easily nuke them, which would have catastrophic repercussions millions would die from both sides. President J.F.K. assembled a group of advisors…

Words 1455 - Pages 6

Essay on Cold War

with the Cuban Missile Crisis. It could be said that the Cuban Missile Crisis was the product of two under lying issues: 1) The Soviet Union losing the battle in the missile arms race with the United States, and 2) Fidel Castro’s fear of losing Cuba due to invasion (http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days). However, I believe that a third issue and as an American, the most important issue was the fear of a Communist takeover and the threat of a first-strike attack by the Soviets on the United…

Words 456 - Pages 2

Cuban Missile Crisis Essay

Nuclear missiles threatened to devastate the world; all it took was the push of a button by the two superpowers of the world at that time. By the 1960s the tension and mutual distrust between the countries had reached an all time high, leading to an event that could spell the end. This was the Cuban Missile Crisis; it was a twelve day ordeal where the world was on the brink of nuclear destruction. In those twelve days, JFK took a stand for the ideal of Democracy in the climate of fear. From the…

Words 1799 - Pages 8

Essay Chapter 8

passionately about the advance of human liberty and challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" the ultimate symbol of Communist suppression and thus demonstrate a commitment to profound change. 2. Why did the Russians put up the wall? Was it a good move or did it backfire? Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev told East Germany's dictator Walter Ulbricht to stop the flow of East German citizens into West Berlin. Therefore, the Soviet Union built the Berlin Wall separating communist East…

Words 534 - Pages 3

John F Kennedy Excom Meeting Case Analysis

F. Kennedy. This was a period of time in history when the United States found itself on the brink of nuclear warfare with the Soviet Union. For thirteen days, in October of 1962 the world awaited and hoped that the two powerhouse nations will come to a resolution of peaceful means. A U-2 spy plane secretly spotted nuclear missile sites, under the construction of the Soviets, in the island of Cuba. A series of meetings then took place between Kennedy and several advisors discussing how to asses to…

Words 1825 - Pages 8

Essay on cuban missile crise

02/21/14 The New World Order In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev came up with the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles (1,000-5,500 km) in Cuba. The idea of a deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real discouragement…

Words 1587 - Pages 7

cia cold war Essay

HUSH Term Paper CIA Foreign Intervention through the Cold War Evander Jaca Period 1 Evander Jaca The perfect government relies not on brute strength or erudite knowledge but in the ability to adapt to conditions of our world. The United States government proved this adaptive mechanism as they transformed the organization to meet the dangers of that era. General Doolittle recommended to the U.S. panel the use of covert action on foreign countries. “We are facing an implacable…

Words 2504 - Pages 11