The Cuban Missile Crisis, 60 Years On
The Cold War-era standoff is more relevant than ever.
“Not since this week in 1962, when President John F. Kennedy announced that any ballistic missile launched from Cuba would be considered a direct attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, has Washington so publicly warned an adversary that it risked a potential nuclear exchange,” Michael Auslin recently wrote in Foreign Policy.
“Not since this week in 1962, when President John F. Kennedy announced that any ballistic missile launched from Cuba would be considered a direct attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, has Washington so publicly warned an adversary that it risked a potential nuclear exchange,” Michael Auslin recently wrote in Foreign Policy.
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin denied last week any intention to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the specter of nuclear warfare has loomed over Europe, and the rest of the world, in recent months. Amid this nuclear saber rattling, we thought we’d revisit the Cuban missile crisis on its 60th anniversary and examine the lessons it offers for today’s world.—Chloe Hadavas
Students at a Brooklyn, New York, school take part in a duck-and-cover drill in preparation for a nuclear attack in 1962. New York World-Telegram/GraphicaArtis/Getty Images
The Dangers of ‘Catastrophic Consequences’
Sixty years after the Cuban missile crisis, Biden is re-creating nuclear deterrence on the fly, Michael Auslin writes.
Then-Sen. John Kennedy, Democratic nominee (left) with Adlai Stevenson on the porch of Kennedy’s house in 1960. Bettmann/Getty Images Archive
How JFK Sacrificed Adlai Stevenson and the Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis
The standoff has newfound relevance as Russian President Vladimir Putin threatens to deploy nukes in Ukraine, Peter Kornbluh writes.
Señor Salme illustration for Foreign Policy
Is Using Nuclear Weapons Still Taboo?
The world is starting to forget the realities of nuclear weapons, Nina Tannenwald writes.
Peace activists wearing masks of Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and U.S. President Joe Biden pose with mock nuclear missiles in front of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin on Jan. 29, 2021. JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images
The Crazy Logic of Brinksmanship Is Back
The West can only counter Putin’s nuclear threats with ruinous threats of its own, FP’s James Traub writes.
The Art of the Arms Race
To avoid disaster, the United States must relearn crucial Cold War lessons, Hal Brands writes.
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