Historical Review
Paper: Cuban Missile Crisis
Assignment Overview
The
Historical Review Papers will look at several historical events important in
American and world history vital for national security. For national security
professionals, understanding and analyzing history correctly is an imperative.
From that historical analysis important lessons can be acquired. Not
surprisingly, worldviews are an important aspect of historical analysis – even
definitions of words to include the definition and belief in facts. Each
worldview looks at history differently. Some of the more common worldviews are:
Secularism, Postmodernism, Marxism, and the biblical/Judeo-Christian worldview.
For example, some worldviews may practice historical revisionism which is
deleterious to accurate historical analysis.
The Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC) is a scenario that is used by
numerous universities around the world. A primary reason for its use in this
course is that almost all the classified documents (including Top Secret) from
the CMC have been declassified which allows a more complete picture of what
happened. This allows the course and the students to avoid fewer speculative
areas. In addition, this was the scenario where the U.S. came the closest to
being in a nuclear war since the dawn of the atomic age. The focus of the CMC
for this course is primarily on grand strategy, intelligence, and the
importance of accurate history.
Instructions:
Requirements
for this paper are outlined as follows:
· Length
of assignment is 6–8 full body pages.
· Format
of assignment is latest version of APA.
· Title
page, abstract, and reference page(s) are required.
· An
introduction and conclusion are required in the body of the paper.
· Citations
should be liberally used when dealing with important facts that are not common
knowledge and where there are conflicts, or the true facts are not known.
· You
should have a total of 6–8 references/sources with two being outside scholarly
references plus the Bible or worldview reference (as required).
o
Barrett & Holland (2012) is a mandatory/required
reference.
· Acceptable
references/sources:
o
Sources, presentations, and other
materials from the modules
o
Scholarly articles, books, and
legitimate websites (not Wikipedia, etc.)
Content
requirements for this paper are outlined as follows:
1.
The student
will describe key aspects of the Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC) to include:
· Background
and description of the CMC.
· One
example of groupthink and how it was mitigated.
· Key
successes and failures in the CMC.
· Reasons
for successes and failures (listed above) in the CMC.
· One
other area in the CMC that you deem important (optional).
2.
Describe
two plausible explanations with rationale on why the Soviets deployed missiles
in Cuba that lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC).
3.
Describe
why or why not (with rationale) the quarantine (blockade) was the best option
(initially) in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC).
4. Describe
the role of friction(s) between the Congress and executive branch that both
helped and hindered learning the true history of the CMC afterwards. Describe
the concept of “narrative versus the truth” from an ethical and worldview
perspective.
5. A
conclusion that gives rationale to what you believe are the most important
lessons learned from the CMC.
Note:
Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism
tool.
References:
https://jamestown.org/programs/rd/
Amstutz, Mark R. (2018). International ethics: concepts, theories, and cases in global politics . NY: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN:9781538110249.
Barrett, David and Holland, Max (2012). Blind over Cuba. College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press. ISBN: 9781603447683.
Martel, William (2015). Grand strategy in theory and practice . NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781107442214.
National War College (n.d.). A National Security Strategy Primer. (attached)
