October 11, 2012

What the Cuban Missile Crisis Should Teach Us

Fred Kaplan, Slate

AP Photo

The Cuban missile crisis broke out 50 years ago this month, and its lessons on weakness, strength, and compromise have been recited ever since by politicians, pundits, and historians. The problem—which has plagued U.S. foreign policy time and again—is that these lessons are myths, based on sheer lies about how the crisis began and how it ended.

Read Full Article ››

TAGGED: Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Kennedy's victory in the messy and inconclusive Cold War naturally came to dominate the politics of U.S. foreign policy. It deified military power and willpower and denigrated the give-and-take of diplomacy. It set a standard for... more ››
October 10, 2012
The Cuban Missile Crisis at 50
Joseph Nye, Project Syndicate
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis – those 13 days in October 1962 that were probably the closest the world has come to a major nuclear war. President John F. Kennedy had publicly warned the... more ››
The election has a geopolitical significance well beyond Venezuela. The continent’s politically predominant left has polarised between supporters of a Chávez-Castro axis, encouraged by Venezuelan oil money and Cuban doctors,... more ››
October 1, 2012
Ignore Raul Castro's Siren Song
Jaime Suchlicki, Miami Herald
The Cuban leadership in Havana continues to try to woo the U.S. administration into providing unilateral concessions to Cuba. The embargo and the travel ban will be ended, they believe, as a result of internal pressures and a... more ››