Analysis of The Cuban Missile Crisis Essay Example

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was a conflict which would change the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union for years to come. According to Office of the Historian, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the Soviet Union began placing nuclear weapons in Cuba, very close to American shores. Realizing that this was dangerous and had the potential to start a nuclear war, the United States did not allow this. After thirteen days of negotiating and compromising between the two countries, the Soviet Union agreed to remove the nuclear missiles from Cuba. Since the two countries were political rivals, they had a strained relationship before this clash. However, the many necessary compromises made during the crisis helped to create a sort of alliance between them. The Crisis, however, could not fully provoke the countries to sustain a permanent alliance. The Cuban Missile Crisis improved the relationship to a moderate extent between the United States and the Soviet Union due to the hotline agreement, the nuclear test ban treaty, and the conflict in the Vietnam War. 

One way the United States and the Soviet Union attempted to strengthen their relationship after the Cuban Missile Crisis was through the hotline agreement. After the crisis had ended, the two countries came together to form a hotline between their governments in order to prevent any more unnecessary conflicts from happening. One way the hotline agreement helped create a strong relationship between America and the Soviet Union was by speeding up communications between the United States government and the Russian government. According to the Arms Control Association, “The transmission of a message from one nation to another would take just a few minutes. The messages were then decoded and translated by the recipient country.” This shows that the two countries were able to communicate extremely easily and efficiently because of the hotline. They were able to put their differences aside and put the interests of their people first, something that was a direct result of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Another way the hotline agreement helped create a secure relationship was by preventing accidental nuclear wars. If the United States and Russia had not come to an agreement, the Cuban Missile Crisis easily could have started a nuclear war, which would be detrimental not only to those two countries, but to the entire world. The hotline allowed the countries to clarify their intentions when interacting with each other, which would prevent a misunderstanding and possibly prevent nuclear war. This proved effective during the six say war, when the hotline was used to clarify American fleets were not a threat to the Soviet Union, when they easily could have been interpreted as such. This prevented a possible accidental and unnecessary conflict, strengthening the relationship between the two countries. Another way the hotline agreement helped foster a positive relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was by remaining strong. According to the Arms Control Association, “The two countries in September 1987 signed an agreement creating the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers (NRRC) in both Washington and Moscow, which became operational in 1988.” This shows that the hotline agreement helped to keep a good relationship between the two countries numerous years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, and still serves that purpose today. The Soviet Union and the United States maintained a mutually beneficial and strong relationship for many years in part due to the hotline. Whereas the two countries did not have a particularly secure relationship before the Cuban Missile Crisis, the crisis helped to improve the relationship between them. 

Another way the Cuban Missile Crisis improved the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union is through the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed by President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev in Moscow on August 5 1963. The treaty did not allow for nuclear weapon tests or nuclear explosions as well as pledging people to work for complete shutdown of all current nuclear weapons. This treaty shows newfound strength in the countries’ relationship in many ways, the first one being that they were able to come together and make it. The simple fact that two political rivals were able to agree to the same list of demands and stick to them is something that came directly out of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and without it very well may not have ever happened. The second way the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union was that it regulated nuclear power between the countries. With the agreements in this treaty, both sides “pledged signatories to work towards complete disarmament...” (JFK Library). Both countries knew that, if left unchecked, nuclear weapons, in either of their hands, could be catastrophic to the world. They desired a good, improved relationship with each other, in order to avoid and future nuclear conflicts. Another way the treaty improved relations between America and the Soviet Union was by never being broken. Neither country ever broke the treaty, proving their want, or more predominantly their need, for a better relationship. According to Office of the Historian, “... the Treaty was hailed as a success. The Treaty was the first of several Cold War agreements on nuclear arms...”  The treaty successfully prevented nuclear conflicts between the two countries, as well as holding up during the Cold War in which they were not on the same side. While the Cuban Missile Crisis did have many positive effects on the relationship between the United States and Russia, there were some parts of their rivalry that could not be mended. 

Although in some ways the Cuban Missile Crisis improved the relationship between the United States and Russia, it could not completely fix every aspect. For example, in August of 1964, United States president Kennedy sent 15,000 soldiers to help South Vietnam against Russia in the Vietnam war. This shows that although the Soviet Union and the United States had many peace agreements such as the hotline agreement and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, they were still enemies in the eyes of the political world. Kennedy felt as if by fighting Russia, he was fighting the very existence of communism itself. According to the JKF Library, “American foreign policy after World War II had been based on the goal of containing Communism and the assumptions of the so-called "domino theory”—that if one country fell to Communism, the surrounding countries would fall, like dominoes.” Kennedy though that it was America’s job to rid the world of communism so that the world could remain free from its control, and that is what drove the two countries into political conflict. The improvements made by the effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis, while substantial, were not enough to keep the counties from going to war with each other due to their opposing political views, with Russia being a communist society and America being a capitalist society. Therefore, the Crisis did not fully form an alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union, it only allied them moderately for a short amount of time. However, both countries did keep their promises on their previously mentioned agreements since the hotline agreement still exists and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has not been violated. This shows that while the two countries may run into occasional conflicts over political issues or alliances, their relationship was ultimately strengthened by the Cuban Missile Crisis.  

The Cuban Missile Crisis enhanced the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union to a moderate extent due to the nuclear test ban treaty, the conflict in the Vietnam War, and the hotline agreement. The hotline agreement and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which strengthened relations between the two countries, were direct results of the Cuban Missile Crisis. While after the Crisis they would run into political conflicts due to their opposing views, the United States and the Soviet Union’s relationship was unquestionably changed for the better.