Essays --

Moral Implications in the Cuban Missile Crisis Morality has been a constant in the foreign policy of the United States of America (U.S.A.). When it comes to the affairs of the world the U.S.A usually tries to make things right and stop evil. Some of the examples of morality playing a role in America’s decisions in foreign policy are the decision to combat the Barbary pirates, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and most recently, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One thing that all of these situations have in common is that it involved the United States basically saying that she would not stand for immorality. One story that has not been investigated is the â€Å"morality element† card and the role of that variable in the choosing of a strategy in the Cuban Missile Crisis. This paper will examine the â€Å"morality element† and how by concentrating on that element the U.S.A successfully brought the Cuban Missile Crisis to an end. Cold War Reaches Boiling Point From 1945 to 1961, this â€Å"war† had some tense moments, but the Cold War hit its boiling point in 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis. During this time, John F. Kennedy was the leader of the United States while Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union. When tensions began to rise in October 1962 these two men would decide whether the world would live to see another day or the world cease to exist. In regards to the Soviet Union and the threat of nuclear war, Kennedy stated that â€Å"[t[o be an American in the next decade will be a hazardous experience. [This nation] will live on the edge of danger. Freedom and communism are locked in a deadly embrace.† Kennedy would also state in his Inaugural Address that the United States w... ...iet Union now had missiles in countries that were very close to them. If the U.S. made the Soviet Union angry or vice versa then the world could be in danger of ceasing to exist. The next part of the Cuban Missile Crisis was very crucial to saving the future of the world. The Soviets Are Caught Red Handed As stated previously, the U.S. did not know about the missiles in Cuba, but that would change very quickly. One of the most crucial days of the Cuban Missile Crisis was October 13th, 1962. On this day, a U-2 plane flew over Cuba and took some photographs before returning safely to Florida where these photographs were developed, so that the U.S. could find out exactly what the Soviet Union was doing in Cuba. The information in these photographs was stunning. Basically what these photographs revealed was the missiles that had been put in Cuba by the Soviet Union.