You are well aware of these events but I'd like to share a similar story where the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in a tense 13-day political and military standoff and the world was on the brink of witnessing a full-scale nuclear war. This is the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were competing to counter each other's influence in the world. In Cuba, a Latin American island nation, a successful revolution between 1953 and 1959 brought Fidel Castro to power. Castro was openly allying with the Soviets and the US couldn't afford a communist country near its borders. The then US Government, headed by John F. Kennedy had been publicly embarrassed by the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, which was aimed to overthrow Castro from power. Several of these failed attempts to topple the communist regime only succeeded in making Cuba more communist. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Castro turned to the Soviets for protection against US aggression. In 1962, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev struck a secret deal with the Cubans to station no less than 40 nuclear-tipped ballistic cruise missiles on Cuba, defended by a larger Soviet garrison and numerous anti-aircraft batteries.
Okay, Cuba had a reason to ask for Soviet help, but why were the Soviets interested in Cuba?
Khrushchev claimed that he provided Cuba with nuclear weapons to protect it from US aggression and alter the balance of power favouring the Soviet Union. But there was another reason for the Soviets to place missiles in Cuba. The US had placed Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, and the Soviet territory was in the range of these missiles. The Soviets wanted the missiles in Cuba as a counter to the American missiles in Italy and Turkey.
(Photo courtesy: wikipedia.org) A photograph showing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, their transports and tents for fueling and maintenance |
Throughout these negotiations, Khrushchev didn't consult with Castro. For Castro, this was humiliating as he had hoped to negotiate the closing of the US naval base at Guantanamo and a stop on the U-2 spy flights over Cuban territory.
Today is a similar situation where Russia thinks that if Ukraine joins NATO or the European Union, it'll be surrounded by the US and its allies on its western borders. This will be a big security threat for them as Moscow will become vulnerable. This is a similar situation that the US faced in 1962 when their capital was under the radar of the Soviet missiles. Ukraine too has a compulsion to ally with the US and Europe because of the Russian aggression. This is similar to where Cuba had to ally with the Soviets because of the American aggression. At that time the Americans didn’t have any option other than either invasion or blockade. And now the Russians have the compulsion to invade Ukraine. Point to be noted, I'm in no way trying to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia has no right to invade a sovereign nation. But when the United States of America and Europe try to lecture and police other countries, they need to be shown the mirror. Before commenting on Russia the US should look at its own past actions.
Appraisal for your hardwork of doing this blog.
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I won't attempt to become your unbliss and will wait for the day when your promise becomes a reality.
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