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Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2

Welcome Letter 4

Position Paper Policy 5

What is a Position Paper? 5

Formatting 5

Due Dates and Submission Procedure 5

Committee Overview 6

Historical Setting 6

Chronology 6

Rules of Procedure 7

Unmoderated Caucus 7

Directive Break 7

Crisis Voting Procedure 8

Directives 8

Public Directives 9

Private Directives 9

Press Releases 9

Writing Directives 9

Formatting Directives 10

Directive Examples 10

Crisis Updates 11

Topic Overview 12

Topic Timeline 12

Geography 14

Historical Analysis 15

Fidel Castro’s Rise 16

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The Bay of Pigs Invasion 17

Rising Tensions 18

Current Situation 19

Inciting Conflict 19

Discussion Questions 20

Possible Solutions 21

Diplomacy 21

Secretive Approach 21

Invasion 21

Air strike 21

Blockade 21

Personal Positions 22

Works Cited 22

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Welcome Letter

Dear esteemed delegates,

It is with my distinct pleasure that I invite you all to the Historic Crisis Committee at the first iteration of North Model United Nations. My name is Shamus Li, and I am currently a grade 11 student in the International Baccalaureate programme at Semiahmoo Secondary. I began my MUN journey in search of the perfect addition to my resume, but I was drawn into the unique debate style and the very pertinent life skills that I’ve learned through trying to convince others to see my point of view. A crisis committee is very unlike your regular Model UN experience, in that you get instant gratification and real-time updates to every directive, and every decision counts. Aer writing countless directives, employing a large number of cunning strategies, and watching most of them fail spectacularly and result in nuclear war, crisis committees have gained a special place in my heart. Prior to the conference, each delegate will receive their personal agenda. Also, the dais reserves the right to discard directives deemed infeasible or improperly written.

With a revamped Rules of Procedure, the HCC stands to be the most advanced diplomatic experience offered at NorthMUN 2019. The HCC will be set in the year 1962, a time of great stress for many in the global stage. Cuba, a newly established communist country located merely a few hundred kilometres off the mainland United States, posed a significant threat, and an ensuing conflict brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before and ever since. Delegates will represent members of the U.S. Cabinet, and try to diffuse the nuclear threat using their strategic brilliance. Whether you can prevail or not will change the course of world history. In hopes of leading your bloc to victory, it is essential for you to have a complete understanding of the Cuban Missile Crisis, including its causes and potential effects, pivotal moments, historical significance and much more, as well as be able to write concise directives to take direct action against the issue. Please take note that a large portion of your delegate evaluation will fall under the accuracy of your role-portrayal abilities as well.

The HCC dais team, consisting of myself and the tireless Samuel Tung, is excited to meet you all and are ready to provide you with an unforgettable conference experience. Due to the complexity of a crisis committee and its special Rules of Procedure, I am fully willing to answer any questions you may have as well as provide any clarifications through my email at [email protected]. On behalf of the entire NorthMUN team, I wish you the best of luck in your research and good fortunes in the battles to come.

Best Regards, Shamus Li Director of the HCC North Model United Nations 2019

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Position Paper Policy

What is a Position Paper?

A position paper is a brief overview of your delegation’s stance on the topics being discussed by this committee. Though there is no specific format the position paper must follow, it should include a description of your positions your delegation holds on the issues on the agenda, relevant actions that your delegation has taken, and potential solution that your delegation would support.

At North Model United Nations, delegates should write a position paper for this topic. The position paper should not exceed one page, and should all be combined into a single document. For the Historic Crisis Committee, position papers are not mandatory but highly recommended, and required should a delegate wish to be considered for an award.

Formatting

Position papers should at least:

- Include the name of the delegate, his/her position, and the committee name - Be in a standard font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri) with a 12-point font size and 1-inch (2.54cm) document margins - Not include illustrations, diagrams, decorations, national symbols, watermarks, or page borders - Include citations and a bibliography in any format, giving due credit to the sources used in research. This does need to be included in the 1-page limit

Due Dates and Submission Procedure

Position papers for HCC must be submitted by midnight on Thursday, April 4th, 2019.

Once your position paper is complete, please save the file as [your last name]_[your first name] and send it as an attachment in an email to h [email protected], with the subject heading as [your last name], [your first name]—Position Paper. Please do not add any other attachments to the email or write anything else in the body.

Your position papers should be combined into a single PDF document file. Position papers submitted in any other format will not be accepted.

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Committee Overview

The Historic Crisis Committee, unlike the rest of the committees at NorthMUN, deals with a pressing historic issue. The HCC will operate under different rules of procedure. As the crisis develops very quickly, and we only have a limited amount of time to go through the debate, it is difficult for the dais to explain every step of the rules of procedure. Therefore, it is highly recommended for all delegates to completely read and understand the entirety of the RoP section of this document in order to properly participate in debate. If you have any further questions, don’t be afraid to email h [email protected].

Delegates in HCC will represent the cabinet of the United States government at the end of 1962 and beginning of 1963, during the famous Cuban Missile Crisis Conflict, to rewrite history as we know it. Delegates won’t need to worry about presidential elections because the entire crisis should take less than a year. Delegates are also discouraged from debating impeachments or the deaths of any fellow cabinet members unless permitted by the Director.

Historical Setting

The Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the most dramatic Cold War confrontation between the USSR and USA. During the 13 days of the crisis, the United States and the Soviet Union came close to a direct military showdown for the first time during the Cold War. Both sides were under intense domestic pressure to prove themselves, and their individual personalities and perceptions were critical in the development and resolution of the crisis.

Although the committee is set in the frame of mind of the Cuban Missile Crisis, it is essential to keep in mind that we will be operating in an alternate timeline that may or may not have anything to do with what actually happened in history. This is an exceedingly important point to stress, because it means that the events of the committee will not adhere to the pages of history, and therefore specific battles or political manoeuvres from history are not legitimate arguments for how a committee update should play out, and delegates should not assume certain outcomes based on how history played out in the real world. Therefore, delegates in HCC are discouraged from directly referencing historical events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For example, an alliance historically made in the real world is not guaranteed to be remade in HCC, or vice versa. However, by no means do we discourage delegates from conducting research on the general socioeconomic circumstances at the time, as understanding pivotal decisions, successful tactic, and critical turning points will serve greatly to an eventual victory.

Chronology

Historically, the Cuban Missile Crisis did not take place in one day. Therefore, the HCC will be running on an accelerated timeline represented by a scaled model of committee time. By default, every forty minutes will equate to approximately one day of crisis time. However, the

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dais recognizes that during scenarios of great importance, the time may need to be sped up or slowed down. Therefore, the time is nonlinear and heavily subject to change by the dais. Delegates are recommended to take note of the time as you will be required to include the time of execution on your directives.

Additionally, delegates are reminded that directives will require a specific amount of time to execute—they are not instantaneous. The Director is to dictate the necessary execution times of directives and therefore, some directives, if written late, may be disregarded.

Rules of Procedure

Unlike most committees at NorthMUN 2019, the HCC will ignore Primary Speaker’s list, Secondary Speaker’s List, and Voting Procedure. At the inception of each committee session, this committee will immediately enter, and spend most of its time in a state known as perpetual moderated caucus. Since you are not representing another governmental body, it is appropriate in this committee to use personal pronouns in your speeches. The time limit for this moderated caucus is effectively limitless and endless, in which the topic will be the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, during this time delegates are able to present three unique motions at any time to alter the flow of debate.

Unmoderated Caucus

Unmoderated caucuses in HCC function identically to those in regular MUN committees. They serve as periods of informal debate during which delegates are encouraged to physically move around the committee room and conduct a conversation with other delegates in a colloquial manner. Delegates are not recommended from presenting critical decisions solely in unmoderated caucuses, as that may lead one part of the committee that wasn’t in your discussion confused and uninformed. It is recommended that every unmoderated caucus follow with a recap of what occurred so that everyone is on the same page.

Directive Break

Directive breaks are short recesses, no longer than five minutes, in which the dais members will be given an opportunity to sort through any congestion of directives that they may face. While directives are being processed by staff, delegates are encouraged to construct any additional directives or engage in colloquial debate without leaving their respective seats in the committee room. The dais reserves the right to erect a Directive Break at their discretion during committee session.

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Crisis Voting Procedure

At any point in the debate, the committee may move into Crisis Voting Procedure to articulate any directives that have been written. When this happens, the dais will proceed to read any pending public directives they have received. Then, the floor will be opened to four additional motions.

1. Motion for a Moderated Caucus 2. Motion for an Unmoderated Caucus 3. Motion to vote on current directive 4. Motion to suspend current directive

During voting procedure, Moderated and Unmoderated caucus are used to for discussion regarding the specific directive. The committee may also choose to simply decide the fate of the directive. If none of the four above motions are immediately presented aer the reading of a directive, the committee will immediately move to vote on the directive. The default voting method in HCC is by placard, but delegates are allowed to motion for an alternate method of voting (roll call, acclamation, etc.).

When a directive is suspended, the directive will be suspended for the next time the committee moves back into Crisis Voting Procedure. With this, delegates will be able to further deliberate on the feasibility of the directive and hopefully reach a consensus before the next voting period.

Please note that as circumstances arise, the dais may also allow for other types of motions at their discretion, such as a motion for a Question and Answer period or a Round Table Debate.

Directives

Unlike the standard theoretical discussions and one long arbitrary resolution papers produced by a conventional MUN committee, HCC’s interactive nature will be complemented by the use of directives. Simply, directives are mini resolution papers, usually one operative clause long, that will directly impact the course of debate. Directives may include anything that the committee is normally able to achieve, such as mobilizing troops, economic investments, and foreign diplomacy.

Unlike a position paper, a directive will not have signatories, but it must have at least three sponsors. A directive should not contain preambulatory clauses, but must still have proper formatting as outlined below. For the sake of efficiency, all directives must have all of the proper elements in order to be considered by the dais. Also, while delegates are encouraged to use directives liberally, innovatively, and creatively to solve the pending issue, it is important that they do not waste time with substantially unrealistic or ludicrous directives. The dais will

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immediately neglect those that do propose useless solutions, examples including purposefully inciting nuclear fallout, global war, communism, etc.

Directives come in four distinct flavours:

Public Directives This type of directive function similarly to conventional resolution papers, in the sense that both are actions taken by the substantive committee requiring at least an approval rating of simple majority (50% of committee). Public Directives are the most powerful type of directives. Once approved, they cohere the power of the entire bloc to take action. However, delegates can also specify which delegates will perform the task, in the case that it is not appropriate for the entire committee to act as a body.

Private Directives Private Directives are actions taken by one specific delegate. As such, the magnitude of the results of such directives are limited to the power and resources of the delegate and his/her respective signatories and/or departments. Please note that each delegate will receive a thorough description of his/her powers and capacities at a date closer to the conference. That being said, there are two forms that a private directive can take.

1. Overt Private Directive: This type of private directive will be announced by the dais and made known to the committee in the case that it is approved. 2. Covert Private Directive: This type of private directive will be kept private and its actions will not be announced to other delegates.

Press Releases A press release is a special type of public directive whereby no substantive action is taken. Rather, it is an “announcement” to the general public. They can be used to affect public morale or sway public opinion, and also can be used when the public demands information from the Cabinet.

Writing Directives

There certainly exists an art to writing concise and effective directives, and they consist of two fundamental pillars: formatting and clarity. A good directive should not only constitute the proper punctuation and style, but also convey to the dais members specific actions and intended outcomes. If said outcomes are carefully presented as both realistic and feasible, they are likely to be followed by the dais. In order to properly outline your intentions, they should include in one clause the specific action, how the action is to be undertaken, and the intended outcome. Should there be blatant absurdity or a lack of clarity, the dais will ask the issuer to reconsider and rewrite. Delegates are recommended to follow common sense and uphold a level of professionalism and maturity when constructing directives. Should a delegate propose a

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directive that is beyond his/her power or will lead to an outcome of total lunacy, it will be swily rejected.

The formatting that directives will function in HCC will be outlined below. In consideration for the environment and more important, the dais’s sanity, we will not be using handwritten directives, and instead all directives should be sent to h [email protected]. Keep in mind that the quality of your directive directly correlates to its chances of being approved by the dais, and that neater directives will be prioritized for the sake of efficiency.

Formatting Directives

Directive Type: What type of directive is this? Is it a Public Directive? Covert Private?

Time of Articulation: When did you write this directive? Please write this in standard DTG, which is structured as DDHHMM(R)MONYY. DD is day of month, HHMM is military 24 hours time, R is time zone, in this case always Eastern Standard Time, MON, is the month, and YY is the year. For example, if you wish to place your order on 1:30 pm on April 7, 2019 in Washington D.C, you would write 071330RAPR19. The date will always be available to the entire committee.

Directive Name: Delegates are encouraged to give the directive a creative and humorous name to increase memorability.

Sponsors: List out all sponsors involved in this Directive (min. 3, max. 12)

Imperative Clause: A commanding clause from the actors to begin your command.

Operative Clause: This main contents of the directive. Include detailed processes of the action being taken alongside its intentions and/or intended outcomes

Signature of all sponsors involved

Directive Examples

Public Directive 261430ROCT62 Operation Block-em Sponsors: JFK, LBJ, Robert McNamara

The members of ExComm moves to:

1. Move ⅕ of the US fleet to surround Cuba to form a blockade so that no foreign ships can enter nor leave Cuban waters, except for selected inspected ships containing emergency medicines, so that no more missiles reach Cuba and disrupting the supply

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line between the Soviet Union and Cuba.

Signed, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara

Covert Private Directive 271850ROCT62 Operation Negotiation

Using my authority:

1. Meet with soviet foreign intelligence located in Washington D.C. to discuss possible disarmament deals with Cuba

Signed, Llewellyn Thompson, Ambassador to the Soviet Union

Press Release 221200ROCT62 Operation Calm-Down Sponsors: JFK, Dean Rusk, McGeorge Bundy

The members of ExComm moves to:

1. Release a public statement detailing the findings made by U-2 spy planes on Cuba, and reassure them that the situation will be swily handled by the Executive Committee, and that there is nothing to worry about. This is done to dismiss public rumours and calm public aggression.

Signed, John F. Kennedy, Dean Rusk, McGeorge Bundy

Crisis Updates

Since HCC is an interactive nature, every action you take will result in a reaction. Every so oen, usually in a time period of 40 minutes, the dais will release an update on the situation. The amount of information that you get will depend on your actions, and the situation will also depend on what actions you take. Sometimes, a crisis update will completely upset your current plans, or it might fit perfectly with your plans. It is part of the experience of the HCC to go with the flow and change based on the current situation.

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Topic Overview

The end of the Second World War brought two emerging superpowers—the United States of America and the Soviet Union—into a chilling conflict with each other. Both sides aimed for dominance over the global community through economic and political means. With the development of nuclear weapons, this race turned into an ideological conflict between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union between 1945 and 1991, named the Cold War. This political game has already divided Germany, while leaving Korea and Vietnam to perish in proxy wars.

In 1959, the American-backed military government of Fulgencio Batista was overthrown by communist revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro, with the help of the Soviet regime. Due to the geographical proximity of Cuba to the coast of Florida, Americans are in panic as an anti- American communist entity is established much closer to their homeland, ready to attack.

Ever since the American election of 1960, the world has been spotlighting young president John F. Kennedy, a former Massachusetts senator who served in World War 2. Kennedy’s determination to contain communism results in elevated tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, including the construction of the Berlin Wall and America’s increased support for South Vietnam.

Cuba, a nation cooperating closely with the Soviet Union, is no exception to America’s aggression. In April 1961, The Central Intelligence Agency sponsors a paramilitary attempt to overthrow the new Cuban government. The entire scheme fails quickly, with communist Cuban forces massively outnumbering the invaders. This only strengthens the relationship between Cuba and the Soviet Union, alongside the unwavering popularity of Fidel Castro.

In the upcoming months, Cuba receives and installs missiles from the Soviet Union, while the US sends U-2 spy planes over the communist country. Then, on October 24, 1962, Americans receive a report of Cuban missile facilities being constructed, significantly increasing the Soviet Union’s first strike capability. With tensions in the Cold War reaching an all-time high, the White House must take immediate action on the threat of nuclear war.

Topic Timeline

1959 January 1 — Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba

January 7 — The US recognizes the Cuban government

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April — Castro visits US to discuss package of US aid for his industrialization programme. USA will only give money if Cuba follows guidelines of International Monetary Fund (IMF).

May — Agrarian Reform Law (which appropriates land and bans land ownership by foreigners) introduced in Cuba. The US becomes convinced that Cuba is communist; hostility increases

1960 February — The first deputy minister of USSR visits Cuba: a five-year treaty signed in which the USSR is to buy five million tons of sugar and to give $100 million credit to buy industrial machinery and materials. They also secretly agree to send arms to Cuba.

March — The first shipment of arms from the USSR arrives in Cuba. Then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower instructs the CIA to train exiles for a future attack on Cuba.

August — Castro expropriates US industrial property and nationalizes banks. USA presents a document to the Organization of American States (OAS) charging Cuba with introducing Communism into Western sphere; this cause is not supported by OAS.

October 7 — In an election speech, John F. Kennedy calls Cuba “a communist menace.”

October-November — USA proclaims embargo on Cuba except for foodstuffs and medicine. Cuba responds by expropriates 166 more US companies.

1961 January 2 — Castro orders the US embassy in Cuba to cut its staff to 11. In response, Eisenhower breaks off diplomatic relations entirely.

April 14 — Castro declares his country to be a socialist regime.

April 15-19 — Invasion by the US on Cuba through the “Bay of Pigs.” This invasion is regarded as a catastrophic failure over the US and only served to strengthen Castro’s regime

November 30 — Operation Mongoose, a secret US program aimed to remove Communist leaders from Cuban power, put into operation. This operation also resulted in US failure.

December 2 — In a speech, Castro declares himself to be a Marxist-Leninist. The US believes that Castro has not revealed what they knew all along.

1962 February - Cuba is expelled from the OAS, and the US places a trade embargo on Cuba for all trade goods except for certain foodstuffs and medicine.

May - The economic situation in Cuba is now in crisis; luckily for the Cubans, they sign a trade agreement with China. In June, they also sign a new trade agreement with the Soviet Union.

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October 14 - US U-2 planes photograph missile sites under construction.

October 16 - The Executive Command, also known as ExComm, is set up. You are members of ExComm, and the first committee session starts on this day.

Geography

The following image depicts the nuclear capabilities of current US-based surface-to-air medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) in Turkey, as well as MRBMs and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) stationed in Cuba. In addition, both countries have surface-to-air intercontinental ballistic missiles in each country’s mainland that would take longer to deploy but could practically reach anywhere in the world. Also, both Soviet Union and the United States are in possession of nuclear B-59 submarines, as well as fighters armed with nuclear air-to-air missiles.

Figure 1: A map showing the approximate ranges of both Soviet and American-based missiles 1

1 h ttps://historyinpieces.com/research/meetings-excomm-executive-committee-national-security-council

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An important military base for the US Navy would be the base at Guantanamo base. Most military interventions should be staged starting from there. However, the US Air Force can also choose to launch more powerful air troops from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Brevard County, Florida, as well as the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska.

For the purposes of this committee, we will be marking up the following map to indicate movements of ships or planes.

Figure 1: A map outlining the territories of America (orange) and the Soviet Union (green) 2

Historical Analysis

The origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis can be traced back to the pro-USA Cuban government of General Fulgencio Batista. Thoughtful Americans very early realized the strategic importance of Cuba3. Its close proximity to the United States plus the dominant position of Cuba relative to the main trade routes into the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, fostered interest in the island throughout the 19th century. Cuba likes only 145 kilometres from the coast of Florida. For this reason, the US considered the island of Cuba to be within its sphere of influence, and it was determined that any government in Cuba should reflect and protect the considerable US interests. Furthermore, the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that the Western Hemisphere was closed to future colonization, and that any attempt by an European power to control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the

2 h ttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Soviet_Union_United_States_Locator.png 3 Wikenheiser, Frank Joseph, "The United States Military in the Cuban Missile Crisis" (1975). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2386, 5

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United States4, meant that a potential Communist state in Latin America posed serious political problems. In the economic arena, US companies controlled most of the financial, railway, electricity, telegraph, and sugar industries. The United States had an agreement with Cuba allowing it to establish a naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Furthermore, the Platt Amendment of 1901 stipulated that the US would ‘exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence’ and for ‘the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty.’ It was clear that the US administration intended to decide what constituted Cuban independence and when a government was or was not ‘adequate.’

Cuban governments in the late 1930’s, 40’s, and up to 1952 were corrupt and gangster-like but maintained a form of constitutionality. In 1952, General Fulgencio Batista took control by a military coup. At first, this was generally well accepted by the politically bankrupt nation. Batista protected American interests, but his sadistic henchmen fostered a tyranny, disdained by most Americans and absolutely abhorred by the majority of Cubans. This set the stage for Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1958.

Fidel Castro’s Rise

On 7 January 1959, realizing that Batista had lost the support of most Cubans, the United States reluctantly recognized the new government of Fidel Castro, which had taken power aer fighting a guerrilla war campaign for seven years. The United States still hoped to control events in Cuba through its economic interests and the presence of a large pro-US middle class. Initially, Castro insisted that he was not a Communist, asserting that “ This is not Communism or Marxism, but representative democracy and social justice in a well-planned economy.”5 However, Castro’s revolutionary reforms involved nationalization of US economic interests, which meant taking most of the existing private industries in Cuba, and establishing state-controlled corporations stead. The US government tried to moderate Castro’s reforms by refusing him economic assistance unless he followed guidelines set out by the International Monetary Fund. Therefore, Castro instead turned to the Soviet Union.

Cuba was for some time the Soviet Union’s greatest Third World achievement. The Castro revolution meant a development of a community of interest with the Soviet Union. Out of nowhere, there appeared a Latin American country, next to the United States, which had been dominated by the United States for 60 years, ready for deliverance. By early 1960, the Soviet Union made Cuba an arena for her renewed aggressiveness, American relations with Cuba had deteriorated, and Castro had moved from his initial non-Conununist pronouncements to a more radical approach, In this, the Soviet Union saw Cuba developing as a catalyst that would lead to other anti-American revolutions in the Western Hemisphere.

4 h ttps://www.britannica.com/event/Monroe-Doctrine 5 h ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/244974.stm

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Cuba was considered part of the US sphere of influence, so to have a supposedly communist leader there fraternizing with the Soviet Union is humiliating and an immediate challenge to the US. The United States decided to deal with this threatening situation in two ways. First, it limited Cuba’s economic ability by proclaiming an embargo on all exports to Cuba except for foodstuffs and medicine. This plan failed in that it drove Castro to sign more economic agreements with the Soviet Union. The flood of Soviet technicians, planner, and military experts began, and thousands had arrived by the latter part of 1960. This help came in such a stream that Washington showed alarm and Congress, high -ranking military officers, and other national leaders began to demand action.6 It just so happens that this military action resulted in total humiliation for the US government.

The Bay of Pigs Invasion

By the end of 1960, the tens of thousands of refugees escaping from Castro’s purges and property conscations appeared to present an opportunity for the anti-Castro activists in the United States to regain control of Cuba. This was to be done with an invasion, which would count on the support of a large bloc of anti-Castro Cubans still in Cuba to join forces and expel communism. Just before the change of presidents, from Eisenhower to Kennedy, plans for such an invasion were formulated by the CIA. During the Winter of 1960-1961, the Cuba refugees were secretly armed, organized and trained by the United States in order to provide a military force to carry out the invasion. President Kennedy executed this plan against the unpopular option of stopping the plan7, and when the invasion failed and resulted in the disaster of the Bay of Pigs, Castro moved more firmly into the soviet orbit. The invasion was a serious failure by the US, ending in the capture of 1214 of the original 1400 invaders. Kennedy was blamed by all parties for the failure of the venture and was condemned internationally for allowing it to have taken place. However, it is not clear that the reasons for the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion were more the fault of the CIA. It underestimated the strength of popular support for Castro within Cuba: it had counted on a popular uprising against Castro, which had never materialized—and indeed the whole episode actually strengthened popular support for his regime. In addition, the action invasion had serious flaws, with the soldier -exiles suffering from a shortage of ammunition and lack of air cover. Castro’s air force was much more effective that had been originally supposed. Despite the CIA’s assurance to the contrary, the exiles could not survive without the cover from the US Air Force, and this was something that President Kennedy could not sanction if he was to public distance himself from the plot.

This failure meant a loss of prestige within the United States and in the rest of the world. It also set back Kennedy’s attempt to identify the USA with anti-colonialism. Other Latin American governments and people were outraged and the episode revived fears of US imperialism in the area. However, the USA continued its efforts to reverse the Cuban revolution through covert action (Operation Mongoose), which involved the sabotage of

6 Louis J. Halle , T he Cold War as History (New York 1 London: Harper & Row , 1971) 1 p. 404. 7 Halle, p.405.

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economic targets, such as sugar plantations and petroleum installations, assassination plots against Castro and other Cuban leaders, and the diplomatic isolation of Cuba. For example, Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1962. The USA also put military pressure on Cuba by carrying out training exercises near Puerto Rico.

The Soviet Union and Nikita Khrushchev, its leader, were further given free ammunition to use in criticizing the United States. For the Soviet union the Bay of Pigs confirmed the leadership’s initial feeling of an apparent lack of resolution of the young American president.8 As a result 1 the Soviet arms buildup was accelerated. Using the invasion as an example of the aggressive American policy toward Cuba, it was easy for the Soviet leadership to explain, both at home and abroad, that the new weapons shipments were necessary to bring Cuba to a defensive level which would avoid further aggression by the United States. Khrushchev, in responding to American action, appeared to be protecting small nations.

Rising Tensions

In 1962, as part of a campaign against the United-States, Castro calls on all Latin American countries to revolt against the ‘imperialists’, a clear Leninist paraphrasing and taunting action plan to U.S. foreign influences in South-America. A few countries tried to overthrow their regimes, Nicaragua for example, in 1962, tried to rid their country of U.S. backed Somoza9 dictatorship, but ended up in failure. February 7, 1962, President Kennedy enforces an import ban on all Cuban goods as part of his damage control plan over Latin America.10 This did not have the his intended effect, however, and only served to strengthen Cuban ties to the Soviet Union, as Castro depended more and more on the Soviets for support.

An added dimension of this crisis was that Kennedy also believed that Khrushchev’s actions were part of a Soviet plan to put pressure on America to get out of Berlin. Kennedy said to British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on 22 October, ‘I need not point out to you the possible relation of this secret and dangerous move on the part of Khrushchev to Berlin’; and to his advisers he pointed out that, ‘Our problem is not merely Cuba but it is also Berlin.’ This, of course, increased the tension further, as Kennedy believed that his decisions would affect not only Cuba, but also Berlin, and thus Europe.

On April 1, 1962, American Jupiter Missiles became active in NATO Turkey. And the bipolarity is at play. The U.S. Sought to taunt the Soviet Union with the activation of Nuclear arms near its borders, but it was met with a counteraction on July the second aer a Cuban visit to Moscow. Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother arrived at an agreement with Soviet leader Khrushchev that involved the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba under Soviet jurisdiction.

8 Adam G, Ulam, T he Rivals (New York: The Viking Press, 1971), p. 320. 9 The Somoza family was an influential political dynasty who ruled Nicaragua as a family dictatorship from 1936 to 1979. 10 See the Kennedy Doctrine and the Alliance for Progress.

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In April of 1962, the Soviet Presidium granted the Cuban request for weapons to aid in their defense. In late July Soviet shipments of arms increased, and by September 1 the Soviet-supplied Cuban arsenal included surface to air missiles, patrol boats with anti-ship missiles, and more than 5,000 Soviets. On July 24, 1962 Castro claimed that the Soviet Union has invested greatly in Cuba’s defensive capabilities and pronounced that the Communist regime would take steps to make any U.S. attack on Cuba the equivalent of a world war. Shortly thereaer, at a high-level meeting of presidential advisers in August 1962, CIA director John McCone expressed his belief that Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) had been deployed in Cuba. The first Soviet nuclear ballistic missiles reached Cuba on September 8th, and more shipments followed over the next month. On October 16, 1962 President Kennedy and national security officials were briefed on the construction of missile bases in Cuba, and therefore the Cuban Missile Crisis began.

Current Situation

The U.S. may be facing a threat like no other in history, and this committee’s first priority should be to maintain the security of the US and to avoid a nuclear attack. The Soviets may have moved weapons closer to the United States than ever before, and the threat of nuclear war is greater now than ever. If the United States takes military action against Cuba, and the rumors of missiles in Cuba prove to be false, the U.S. will be seen as the aggressive actor and face potential retaliation from both Cuba and the Soviet Union. The consequences of inaction by this committee, however, may result in fully functional Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba.

The U.S. policy of containment is aimed at stopping the spread of communism by giving aid to countries that were in danger of falling under communist rule. Part of the strategy of containment is predicated on the Domino Theory, which asserted that if one country falls under communism the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. Therefore, the continued spread of communism is a significant threat to U.S. interests. The United States is particularly worried about additional countries in Latin America and the Caribbean falling under communist rule. If the spread of communism is not stopped, the United States could be surrounded by communist countries—countries that will be much more likely to ally with the Soviet Union than the U.S. and thus significantly weaken American security in the Western hemisphere. Even worse, the unthinkable could happen: the American system itself could be threatened.

Inciting Conflict

On October 14, 1962, A U-2 spy plane took photos that showed evidence that launch pads were being constructed by the soviets for 64 intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The presence of these missiles did not really poses a significant threat to the worldwide nuclear balance.

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However, it meant that the warning time for missiles fired at the United States would be far less than for missiles fired from within the Soviet Union.

More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that, to the US public it certainly seemed that the balance of power had changed. Kennedy said at a meeting with his advisors: “Offensive missiles in Cuba have a very different psychological and political effect in this hemisphere than missiles in the USSR pointed at us.”11 Therefore, the prestige of the US, and of the leaders themselves, are at stake. The entire US cabinet was hoping for the aversion of another Bay of Pigs episode in Cuba. Another factor was the impending Congressional elections, which were to take place in early November. It would not be in the Democrats’ favour to face elections with missiles installed in Cuba. But how could the ExComm resolve the crisis without precipitation a dangerous and world-threatening head-on collision with the USSR?

Speaking of the USSR, they are reported to be sending another round of missiles and supplies to Cuba, due to arrive on October 24, 1962, a mere 8 days away for the unfortunate Executive Committee. This would be the ultimate showdown, because if the Soviets can deploy nuclear weapons in Cuba with the US’s full knowledge, it would send a message to the whole world that the balance of power has truly been changed. However, it is exceedingly important that no full-scale nuclear war is waged, especially considering both countries’ policies of mutually-assured destruction (MAD), which means that any nuclear war is likely to kill a third of humanity, with most or all of those deaths concentrated in the US, the USSR, Europe, and China. Also, since the US has the full support of NATO, and the Soviet Union has the backing of the Warsaw Pact, it is very likely that any conflict with the Soviet Union will result in another World War that no country will be ready for.

Discussion Questions

● What action(s) of one or more of the superpowers increased the tension over Cuba?

● To what extent is the danger of the Cuban Missile Crisis seriously exaggerated?

● Why would the Soviet Union deliberately place missiles in Cuba if they know that the US would be outraged?

● Was the US policy of ‘containment’ and ‘diplomatic isolation’ in Cuba and the Soviet Union successful?

11 Kahan, Jerome H., and Anne K. Long. "The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Study of Its Strategic Context." Political Science Quarterly 87, no. 4 (1972)

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Possible Solutions

Listed below are five solutions that the dais sees could be a possible approach that delegates could consider.

Diplomacy

If the US is able to make a deal with either Cuba or the Soviet Union to remove the Cuban missiles by using bargains such as giving more control in Berlin or removing nuclear weapons from Turkey, that may diffuse the situation. However, it must be understood that the US may also lose key strategic advantages, and be labelled as weak by the rest of the world stage.

Secretive Approach

The US Cabinet could offer Castro the choice of splitting with the Soviets or be invaded by them. However, Castro is most likely to say no to the US, who have not given him any reason to ally with them. Castro is worried about US influence in Cuba and the potential dismantling of the Communist movement that he has built in Cuba, and therefore does not entertain lightly the idea of betraying his close ally. Also, Castro has been reported to push the Soviet Union of launching a full nuclear invasion on the United States.

Invasion

Without any notice, the United States can launch a full force invasion of Cuba and overthrow of Castro. However, this would most likely end in nuclear warfare, as Cuba is backed by the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and is highly not recommended.

Air strike

This is a partial invasion of Cuba. The plan involves using the US Air Force to attack all known missile sites. This would also probably fail due to the anti-air forces in Cuba from the Soviet Union, and would also quite possibly incite retaliation from the Soviet Union.

Blockade

Use the US Navy to block any missiles from arriving in Cuba. Only time will tell of the effectiveness of this plan, as the Soviets could just completely ignore the blockade and that could incite local conflicts that may escalate into a full-scale invasion.

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Personal Positions

Each delegate will be emailed their specific positions, agendas, and powers prior to the conference.

Works Cited

"Cuban Missile Crisis." J ohn F. Kennedy: Presidential Library and Museum. JFK Library. https://www.jlibrary.org/learn/about-j/j-in-history/cuban-missile-crisis

Adam G, Ulam, T he Rivals (New York: The Viking Press, 1971), p. 320.

Coleman, David. "NSC ExComm Meetings, 1962-1963." Research. September 09, 2014. https://historyinpieces.com/research/meetings-excomm-executive-committee-national-s ecurity-council

Hayek, Roy. "The Cuban Missile Crisis." T heories of International Relations. RIN 451, USEK 2017 (1974).

Kahan, Jerome H., and Anne K. Long. "The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Study of Its Strategic Context." P olitical Science Quarterly 87, no. 4 (1972): 564-90. doi:10.2307/2148197.

Louis J. Halle , T he Cold War as History (New York 1 London: Harper & Row , 1971) 1 p. 404.

McManus, Roseanne W. “Cuban Missile Crisis.” Chapter. I n Statements of Resolve: Achieving Coercive Credibility in International Conflict, 129–48. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. doi:10.1017/9781316756263.007.

Rogers, Keely, and Jo Thomas. T he Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries. 2nd ed. (London: Pearson, 2015)

Stairs, Denis and Richard Foot. “Cuban Missile Crisis.” T he Canadian Encyclopedia. February 6, 2006. h ttps://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/cuban-missile-crisis

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Cuban Missile Crisis.” E ncyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. February 15, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/event/Cuban-missile-crisis

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Monroe Doctrine.” E ncyclopaedia Britannica.

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Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. January 30, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/event/Monroe-Doctrine

Wikenheiser, Frank Joseph, "The United States Military in the Cuban Missile Crisis" (1975). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2386, 5

“Castro: Profile of the Great Survivor.” BBC News. February 19, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/244974.stm

“Cuban Missile Crisis.” H ISTORY, A &E Television Networks. January 4, 2010. https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cuban-missile-crisis

“The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962.” M ilestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations. Office of the Historian, United States Department of State. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/cuban-missile-crisis

“The Warsaw Treaty Organization, 1955.” M ilestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations. Office of the Historian, United States Department of State. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/warsaw-treaty

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