The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy Assignment

The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy
The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy

The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy

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Assignment 1 – The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy

Select a president from the table, “Presidents and Their ‘Doctrines,’” in Roskin, Chapter 4. Then write a 3-5 page paper on the doctrine that president used according to Roskin. Your research must include at least four (4) credible sources, apart from your textbook.

Your paper must address the following:
1.Summarize a situation that required U.S. diplomatic efforts during the president’s time in office.
2. Explicate the diplomatic doctrine the president followed, with reference to specific actions or events that occurred.
3 .Describe the effects of these diplomatic efforts for the U.S. and other countries.
4. Assess, in conclusion, the advantages and disadvantages of the particular doctrine that was followed.
5. Cite at least four (4) reputable sources in addition to the textbook, not including Wikipedia, encyclopedias, or dictionaries. .

Your assignment must:
•Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
•Include a cover page containing the tile of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
•Identify the cultural, economic, and political context of information resources, and interpret information in light of that context.
•Use technology and information resources to research issues in international problems.
•Write clearly and concisely about international problems using proper writing mechanics.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills.
Additional Requirements

Min Pages: 4
Level of Detail: Show all work

SAMPLE ANSWER

For 13 days in October 1962, the world was on the brink of a nuclear holocaust as the US and the Soviet Union were embroiled in an impasse off the cost of Cuba. Historians appreciate the precarious situation that the US was in as its Central Intelligence Agency had failed to gather intelligence on the soviets building missile bases in Cuba in advance of their completion. President Kennedy had only been in office for a few months and was reeling from a failed attempt at overthrowing the government of a young Fidel Castro in the Bay of Pigs (Fitzsimons,1972). The situation was made dire by the fact that Cuba stands only 90 miles off the coast of Florida and soviet ballistic missiles were in range of the American east coast. President Kennedy reacted by placing a quarantine around Cuba in order to prevent more nuclear missiles from reaching the coast. This was at the height of the cold war.

The situation nearly escalated when the soviets shot down an American U-2 spy plane during an inspection of the quarantine zone. In essence, the quarantine was a toned down reference to the blockade around Cuba which in itself represented an act of war. The US secretary of state, Rusk, referred to the standoff between the soviet ships carrying more missiles and the US naval ships in the blockade as being eyeball-to-eyeball. In that instance, had the soviet ships not stopped and sailed back to their country, the two armies would have been forced to engage leading to world war iii. The scenario would have been exacerbated by the fact that the US had Jupiter missiles strategically placed in Turkey, and within range of the Soviet Union. Various advisors had pushed Kennedy to launch an assault on the military installations in Cuba in order to cripple an soviet offensive. Conversely, Fidel Castro pushed Khrushchev, the soviet premier to also launch an offensive against the US. However, sobriety prevailed and matters did not escalate as they had promised to.

Popular American mythology regarding the Cuban missile crisis holds that the bold brinkmanship of Kennedy won the day. However, careful analysis of the facts and historical accounts paint a different picture. Rather than the high-stake game of folklore, the crisis was resolved by behind-the-scenes engagements between Moscow and Washington. As a matter of fact, the crisis lasted a lot longer than the 13 days commonly quoted. In normal circumstances, the downing of the American U-2 spy plane would have resulted in the destruction of the antiaircraft base. However, Kennedy held off any retaliatory attack. Historical accounts indicate that in the 13 days of the crisis, Kennedy’s brother, attorney general Robert Kennedy was embroiled in serious and secret negotiations with the soviet ambassador, Anatoly Dobrynin. At first, they agreed that the soviets would not breach the blockade if the US guaranteed not to invade Cuba (Dobbs, 2008). This brought an end to the impasse. However, there still were missiles already in Cuba. The next step of the negotiations resolved that the Soviet Union would remove all the nuclear missiles from Cuba and in return, the US would remove its own Jupiter missiles from Turkey. However, these terms were not made public which led to the myth that Americans won.

The Kennedy doctrine was thus one that was premised on diplomacy. Rather than launching offensives for any perceived acts of war, the president always allowed for diplomacy. The world was recovering from the effects of World War II less than two decades prior. Therefore, President Kennedy was not keen on overt warfare but rather focused on unconventional warfare. This doctrine provided the necessary flexibility to avoid nuclear war. This doctrine was successful in this instance but failed in other memorable debacles like the Vietnam War which started of covertly and turned overt after unconventional warfare failed. However, even with its failure in Vietnam, the doctrine of diplomacy and engagement on a covert basis gained prominence and has avoided any major confrontations today despite constant provocations. The US turned a corner and was mythologised for its handling of the Cuban missile crisis why the Soviet Union also gained some clout since the imminent threat that the missiles in turkey posed dissipated. Engagements between the two countries after the crisis gave way to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The Kennedy Doctrine has the advantage of having less expensive outcomes for the country in comparison to engagement in an all-out war. It allowed for peaceful resolution to a situation that had threatened to go out of hand. The disadvantage of the doctrine is that it led to one party being considered as being triumphant over the other. In the larger scope of things, it led to a precarious situation of having two centres of power, super powers, which dominated the 20th century, pushing much else to the backburner. The previous regime in the US governed by the Eisenhower Doctrine was premised massive retaliation. The fear that this doctrine espoused was undone by the Kennedy Doctrine leading to a perceived weakening of the US.

References

Dobbs, M. (2008). One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War. New York: Knopf

Fitzsimons, L. (1972). The Kennedy Doctrine. New York: Random House

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