The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History CHOICES Acknowledgments for the 21st Century The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War Education Program History was developed by the Choices for the 21st Century February 2006 Education Program with the assistance of the research staff of the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, Director scholars at Brown University, and other experts in the field. Susan Graseck We wish to thank the following researchers for their invaluable input to this and previous editions: Curriculum Developer Andy Blackadar James G. Blight Professor of International Relations (Research) Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University Curriculum Writer Sarah Kreckel Vikram Chand Former Post-Doctoral Fellow International Education Intern Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University Daniela Bailey Christopher C. Coleman Office Assistant Political Affairs Officer Dan Devine United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations Regina Cortina Office Manager Former Associate Director, Center for Latin American Studies Anne Campau Prout Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University Outreach Coordinator Mark Garrison Bill Bordac Senior Fellow Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University Professional Development Coordinator Sergei N. Khrushchev Lucy Mueller Senior Fellow Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University Program Coordinator for Capitol Forum Barbara Shema Mark Kramer Former Research Associate, Center for Foreign Policy Development Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University The Choices for the 21st Century Education Program develops cur- Cathy Schneider ricula on current and historical Former Associate Professor of Political Science international issues and offers Brown University workshops, institutes, and in- service programs for high school Stephen Shenfield teachers. Course materials place Former Assistant Professor (Research) special emphasis on the impor- Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University tance of educating students in their participatory role as citizens. Richard Smoke Former Research Director, Center for Foreign Policy Development The Choices for the 21st Century Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University Education Program is a program of the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War for International Studies History is part of a continuing series on international public at Brown University. policy issues. New units are published each academic year and all Thomas J. Biersteker units are updated regularly. Director, Watson Institute for International Studies Visit us on the World Wide Web — www.choices.edu ■ CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM ■ WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY ■ WWW.CHOICES.EDU Contents Map: The Caribbean and Central America ii Introduction: October 16, 1962 1 Part I: From Colonialism to Statehood 2 An American Empire 3 Part II: Cold War Tension 8 The Cold War in the Western Hemisphere 10 The Castro Era 11 October 1962: The Moment of Decision 15 Options in Brief 18 Option 1: Pursue Diplomacy 19 Option 2: Blockade Cuba 21 Option 3: Airstrike and Invade 23 Epilogue: On the Brink 25 Castro’s Crisis 29 What We Know Now: “One Hell of a Gamble” 31 Optional Reading: Forty Years of U.S.-Cuban Relations 34 Supplementary Documents 38 Supplementary Resources 53 THE CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM is a program of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. CHOICES was established to help citizens think constructively about foreign policy issues, to improve participatory citizenship skills, and to encourage public judgement on policy issues. The Watson Institute for International Studies was established at Brown University in 1986 to serve as a forum for students, faculty, visiting scholars, and policy practitioners who are committed to analyzing contemporary global problems and developing initiatives to address them. © Copyright February 2006. Third edition. Choices for the 21st Century Education Program. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-891306-96-0. WWW.CHOICES.EDU ■ WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY ■ CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM ■ ii ■ Considering its Place in Cold War History Considering itsPlaceinColdWar The CubanMissileCrisis: C HOI C ES The Caribbean and Central America FOR THE 21 ST C ENTURY FLORIDA E DU THE Atlantic Ocean C Nassau BAHAMAS ATION P ROGRAM Gulf of Mexico Havana CUB DOMINICAN ■ A W REPUBLIC San Juan ATSON ANTIGUA AND Basseterre BARBUDA HAITI ST. KITTS I GUADELOUPE NSTITUTE Santo PUERTO AND NEVIS CAYMAN ISLANDS George Town Port-au- Domingo Basse-Terre RICO DOMINICA Prince Roseau JAMAICA Kingston FOR MARTINIQUE CO Fort-de-France I I ST. LUCIA NTERNATIONAL X E BELIZE Castries M BARBADOS Belmopan ST. VINCENT AND Bridgetown THE GRENADINES Caribbean Sea Kingstown GUATEMALA HONDURAS GRENADA S St. George's TUDIES Guatemala Tegucigalpa ARUBA NETHERLANDS Port-of-Spain TRINIDAD AND , TOBAGO San Salvador ANTILLES B NICARAGUA RO EL SALVADOR W N Managua U NIVERSITY COSTA RICA San José PANAMA Panama VENEZUELA ■ WWW COLOMBIA GUYANA . C HOI C ES . EDU The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History 1 Introduction: October 16, 1962 n October 16, 1962, President John F. a CIA-sponsored invasion of Cuba in 1961. OKennedy confronted an earth-shattering Known as the Bay of Pigs invasion, it was a revelation: the Soviet Union had placed mis- disastrous failure. siles capable of carrying nuclear weapons on The president had met with Soviet leader the island of Cuba, just ninety miles from the Nikita Khrushchev the previous year in United States. an effort to improve relations between the Tensions between the Soviet Union and two nuclear powers but with little success. the United States had been high since the late Khrushchev, convinced that the Soviet Union 1940s. For every U.S. president since Truman, was a growing power and emboldened by ad- this ideological standoff—known as the Cold vances in Soviet rocket technology, saw little War—had shaped foreign and domestic policy. reason for compromise. Kennedy had worried for months about Soviet Nonetheless, Khrushchev had promised to intentions toward West Berlin and in South- do nothing that might affect the upcoming U.S. east Asia, but this was much closer to home. elections. Furthermore, he had promised not Kennedy realized that, if launched, these mis- to place offensive weapons in Cuba. Now Ken- siles could hit the United States in minutes. nedy wondered what Khrushchev was doing The Cold War seemed about to boil over. and how he should respond. Cuba presented a thorny problem for the In these readings, you will explore the president. Cuba’s leader, Fidel Castro, wel- circumstances that brought the United States comed in the United States with open arms to the brink of nuclear war in 1962. You will just a few years before, had recently aligned explore the history of U.S. relations with himself with the Soviet Union. Cuba—the country to challenge U.S. domina- Many Americans felt that Castro’s revolu- tion of the Caribbean and Central America tion was a rejection of the U.S. effort to bring most boldly. You will then grapple with the American skills and values to the region. same question President Kennedy pondered: The island had become a flashpoint for U.S. how should the United States respond to the anxiety about the world. In an attempt to Soviet missiles in Cuba? An epilogue reviews overthrow Castro, Kennedy had authorized the outcome of the missile crisis. John F. Kennedy Library. Used with permission. Kennedy Library. John F. U.S. experts first learned of Soviet missile installations in Cuba by examining this reconnaissance photograph. WWW.CHOICES.EDU ■ WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY ■ CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM ■ The Cuban Missile Crisis: 2 Considering its Place in Cold War History Part I: From Colonialism to Statehood erhaps nowhere in the world have U.S. In the Caribbean, Spain overwhelmed the Pactions left a greater impact than in the native populations in the 1500s. In the next Caribbean and Central America. The size two centuries, the British, French, and Dutch and strength of the United States have cast joined the Spanish in colonizing the cluster of an enormous shadow over the small states of islands that stretches from the tip of Florida to the region. The people of the Caribbean and the coast of Venezuela. Sugar cane became the Central America have often found themselves most profitable crop of the islands, and Afri- swept up in the currents of U.S. history. can slaves the European colonizers imported worked on the huge plantations. How did the Caribbean and Central Political independence came very slowly America become entangled in U.S. history? to the region. A successful slave revolt in Haiti When Americans developed a taste for ba- defeated the French colonial powers in 1804, nanas, coffee, sugar, and other products of the but for much of the Caribbean, independence tropics, American businessmen moved quickly was not achieved until the twentieth century. to set up huge plantations in the Caribbean Unlike Mexico, many countries of the Carib- and Central America. When the needs of U.S. bean and Central America lacked a unifying trade and defense required a shorter ocean sense of nationhood.