Search Results for: missile crisis
“The Americans knew that if Russian blood were shed in Cuba, American blood would surely be shed in Germany. The American government was anxious to avoid such a development. It had been, to say the least, an interesting and challenging situation. The two most powerful nations of the world had been squared off against each
“In previous crises when horizontal escalation seemed possible, such as the Cuban missile crisis, the superpowers have drawn back from the brink. There is no guarantee that they would exercise such restraint in the future.” Lesson: Though the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved peacefully, there are no guarantees future crises will be. Fen Osler Hampson,
“Don’t exploit your advantages to force the other side into a choice between a serious defeat and the use of force.” (p. 106) Lesson: Don’t force your adversary into a corner: let them have a way out for retreat. ————————————————————————– “The problem in a crisis is to devise a strategy which will allow you to
Powell: “President Kennedy didn’t negotiate out of the Cuban Missile Crisis simply because he and Khrushchev got along well. Khrushchev didn’t have the cards. And President Kennedy had the power and had made it clear that he was not going to tolerate this.” Lesson: Negotiate from a position of strength. James Dao, “Threats and Responses:
“The real lesson of the Cuban missile crisis for getting out of Afghanistan or negotiating with Iran is that we have to look for compromises consistent with our national interests.” Leslie H. Gelb, “Lessons From the Cuban Missile Crisis” (CFR, 10/22)
“Don’t believe the early, first draft of history, which is often written by the victors, channeled through uncritical journalists.” “The real risk of nuclear war in October 1962 arose from miscommunication and miscalculation.” Michael Dobbs, “The ‘eyeball to eyeball’ moment that never was” (Foreign Policy, 10/24/12) ————————————————————————– “Most important lesson Kennedy drew from reading The
Crisis highlighted the need to provide “political-diplomatic support” for strategic military deployments, something that the Soviet leadership did not do. (May 2012). Lesson: Include individuals with different perspectives in decision-making process during crisis. Cited in Yevgeny Podzorov, “What does the Caribbean Crisis Teach Us,” Red Star, May 18, 2012. ————————————————————————– “The 1962 Cuban missile crisis
“The time that was available to the President and his advisers to work secretly, quietly, privately, developing a course of action and recommendations for the President, was essential.” (p. 89) Lesson: Take time to plan; don’t go with your first impulse. ————————————————————————– “I believe our deliberations proved conclusively how important it is that the President
“Figure out what’s at stake! It’s remarkable how little agreement there was on this here this weekend. And second, don’t have a process that creates a crisis unless you want one. The crisis was caused by the United States because of the way it reacted to the missiles in Cuba. The fact there was a
“The Berlin crisis-together with its culmination in the Cuban Missile Crisis-marked a turning point in the Cold War, though it was not perceived as such at the time. Had the democracies not become so consumed by their internal disputes, they might have interpreted the Berlin crisis for what it was-a demonstration of latent Soviet weakness.