How far can the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis be attributed to the

failure of American and Soviet leaders to appreciate the consequences of

their foreign policies in the period 1959 to 1962?
The Cuban Missile Crisis is a clash between the 2 superpowers the US and
USSR, in 1962 October when a nuclear holocaust almost broke out. No doubt
Castros actions first provoked harsh US policy which in turned called for
military aid from USSR and led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was the
negligence of the consequences of their foreign policies by the superpowers
that led to the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Hence, this essay seeks
to argue that the Cuban Missile Crisis can largely be attributed to the failure
of American and Soviet leaders to appreciate the consequences of their
foreign policies because their negligence caused them to overreact in the
way they dealt with the occurrences in Cuba and escalated the conflict to
what was eventually close to grave danger.
Before the superpowers even got involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was
Castros provocative actions that first called for harsh US policy, which in
turned raked in the need for military aid from USSR, leading to the Cuban
Missile Crisis. After a series of land redistribution program which had already
infringed upon vital US interest, not only did Castro not scale back on its
ultra-nationalistic actions, he even became so bold as to nationalize
approximately USD1billion worth of US private investment in October 1960.
Cubas sugar trade agreement with the Soviets, signed in February 1960,
explains why the US would even place an embargo on Cuban sugar imports
in the first place. In December 1960, Cuba and USSR issued a joint
agreement in which Cuba openly aligned itself with the domestic and foreign
policies of USSR and indicated its solidarity with the Sino-Soviet Bloc.
Therefore, it is understandable why the US would toughen its policy against
Cuba and even when it did so, it did not draw in the missiles.
Even though Castros actions first provoked harsh US policy, failure of the US
to appreciate its foreign policy caused the US to be overly harsh in its
response, thereby leaving Cuba with no other options but to join the socialist
camp where USSR would be brought into the conflict, leading to the Cuban
Missile Crisis. As if imposing an embargo on Cuban sugar imports and all the
secret plans to assassinate Castro were not enough, in April 1961, the US
expanded its economic embargo on Cuba by threatening to terminate aids to
any country that traded with Cuba, by refusing to purchase goods that had
the possibility of containing any Cuban materials and by pressurizing US
allies to end all commercial ties with Cuba. In addition, the US even
conducted a series of saber rattling activities which engendered a mood that
an invasion of Cuba was imminent. Then, the US undertook two large military
exercises in the Caribbean near Cuba. The first, Lantiphibex I-62 involved a
marine assault using the island Vieques off the coast of Puerto Rico and the
second called the QUICK KICK, was a massive set of naval maneuvers with

79 ships and more than 40000 troops off the Southern US coast. Finally from
14-19April 1961, the US carried out the Bay of Pigs invasion, but failed. As a
result, in December 1961, Castro in response declared himself a MarxistLeninist. The short breadth of time in which the events transpired showed
that the US was very much responsible for pushing Cuba into the socialist
camp, where Soviet involvement in Cuba would gradually increase, leading
up to the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Be that as it may, it was in USSRs every intention to bring in the missile, the
quintessential component that transformed the conflict into a Crisis by USSR,
the superpower, in response to Cubas call for military aid even though it was
unjustified, not that it neglected the consequences of its foreign policies.
While the Cubans only asked for conventional weapons for additional
deterrent, USSR decided to place missiles in Cuba. Given that there were
already substantial amount of military aid in Cuba, such as the IL-28 light jet
bombers and the Komar petrol boats, there was no need for USSR to place
missiles in Cuba as additional deterrent. Moreover, the fact that the missiles
require 8hours to fuel and was armed with a nuclear warhead made it
indisputable that the missiles could not have been for defensive purpose
because they would have been virtually useless in response to an invasion.
The offensive nature of the missiles made them likely to draw an attack
instead of deterring one. Yet, irrespective of this, USSR still wanted to bring
in the missiles because not only will the missiles compensate for and close
up the missile gap which USSR was lagging behind in the arms race, it will
strengthen their bargaining position in Berlin and at the same time extend
communist influence in the Western Hemisphere, thereby further
undermining US prestige by continuing to violate the Rio Pact and the
Organisation of American States (OAS) formed in 1947 and 1948 respectively
to exclude communism in the US backyard. Even if a settlement on the
removal of missiles was to be made eventually, the US was be compelled to
negotiate with the Soviets where they would be in a more favourable
position. Therefore, outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis was not due to the
failure of the Soviet leaders to appreciate the consequences of their foreign
policies, but a calculated attempt by USSR to serve its own interest, which
incidentally led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Nevertheless, had the US been more cautious and wary of the consequences
of its foreign policies, USSR would not have been given a chance to deploy
the missiles, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis. As it was not in the power of
Castro to decline the overly incendiary aid of missile after USSR, it made it
extra crucial and clear the negligence of the consequence of the US foreign
policies would have a direct impact in it eventually leading to the Cuban
missile crisis. With or without Castro asking, Khrushchev would have placed
the missiles in Cuba anyway. Castros request was merely a bonus that was
in line with his intention. With the power to materialize the idea firmly in the
hands of Khrushchev as the Cuban economy was heavily dependent on USSR

having fell out with the US, after the conceptual phase, the fate of the
missiles to be implemented in Cuba was almost sealed. When USSR
proposed the initiative to place missiles in Cuba to the Cubans in May 1962,
it was an offer they could not decline. In the very same month, the Cuban
accepted the missiles as an act of socialist solidarity and a means to
reinforce socialism at an international scale. The short breadth of time in
deciding on an issue that is so intrinsically pertinent to the sovereignty of
their country gives credence to the view that [the Cubans] were receiving
an important aid which they could not slink away and the USSR had
manipulated the Cubans into accepting the missiles. Hence, ultimately it
boils down to the US negligence of the consequences of its foreign policies
that was the cause for Cuban Missile Crisis.
Even for USSR, while it was their intention to have missiles placed in Cuba, it
is unlikely that they intended for a close confrontation with the US in October
1962 where a nuclear holocaust almost broke out, thus showing that
eventually the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis was still due to the failure
of the Soviet leaders to appreciate the consequences of their foreign policies.
USSR declaration in September 1962 which stated that they had neither the
intent nor the need to place nuclear missiles outside USSR as well as
Khrushchevs personal assurances to Kennedy after the declaration showed
that USSR did not have the intention to let the US know that missiles were
being deported into Cuba, much less to intend for the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Moreover, considering the number of military personnel involved in the
quarantine and the possibilities that an accidental missile launch by any over
eager local commander might well have led directly to a hot war, thereby
decentralizing Khrushchevs control over the issue, it was unlikely that
Khrushchev had planned for the deployment of missile to translate to Cuban
Missile crisis and hence, eventually the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis
was still due to the failure of the Soviet leaders to appreciate the
consequences of their foreign policies.
In conclusion, undoubtedly Castros provocative actions brought about harsh
US policy which in turned called for military aid from USSR and led to the
Cuban Missile Crisis. However, it was the negligence of the consequences of
their foreign policies by the superpowers that led to the outbreak of the
Cuban Missile Crisis. It was the overreaction in handling of the conflict in
Cuba, intentional or not, eventually led to both superpowers to neglect the
consequence of their foreign policies, and hence the Cuban Missile Crisis.