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Pros And Cons Of Brinkmanship During The Cuban Missile Crisis

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What is brinkmanship? Brinkmanship is the practicing of pushing a dangerous situation or confrontation to the limit of safety specially to force a desired outcome (Merriam-Webster). In this essay there is going to be examples from how President Kennedy used brinkmanship during the Cuban Missile Crisis and how President Trump is using brinkmanship with North Korea. I will also explain the pros and cons of brinkmanship. The Cuban Missile Crisis all started in October, 1962, when an American spy plane spotted and secretly photographed missile sites being built on the island of Cuba by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy did not tell the Soviet Union right away that we had found their nuclear missile site. But days later, President Kennedy meet secretly with his advisors to discuss the situation. President Kennedy and his advisors though long and hard about what to do and the finally came up with an idea. Kennedy decided to put a naval blockade around the island of Cuba. The purpose of this was so Cuba could not get anymore military supplies for the Soviet Union. President Kennedy demanded that the missiles that were already there be disabled and that the sit be destroyed. Later on, Kennedy told America what was happening on a televised address. Everyone was anxious about what the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, would say about the naval blockade. But both President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev recognized that the devastation that a nuclear war will bring is too much.

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