Attitudes of Khrushchev & Kennedy post Cuban Missile Crisi

After the crisis both Khrushchev and Kennedy had pressure to…

respond to the other in a certain way

Khrushchev’s focus before the crisis was on?

sorting out USSR economy & improve standards of living

Khrushchev before the crisis was being pressured by Mao to be…

more revolutionary abroad

Khrushchev was keen on…

peaceful co-existence but had to balance this policy with maintaining a strong anti-Western rhetoric to keep the USSRs position as head of the international communist community

JFK faced similar problems as Khrushchev before the crisis…

he wished to improve relations between the two countries but was limited by a need to be seen as tough on communism to appease republican opposition

The crisis provided the two leaders with a reason to …

promote better links between the two countries & ensured that public opinion & international opinion did not condemn them for working closer together

Kennedy had a realist…

understanding of international relations - not ideological, he wanted peace & cooperation with the USSR

Kennedy wanted to avoid…

the severe damage & high casualties of a nuclear war (estimated 93 million casualties from the combined US & USSR armoury)

Kennedy’s objective was rather than…

winning a nuclear war to avoid one

what was a problem with MAD

based on assumption that all nuclear powers were rational actors - Kennedy wanted to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to potentially volatile countries (e.g. China & North Korea)

Kennedy wanted to avoid environmental…

devastation of that of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Khrushchev was amendable to…

a US-Soviet relationship based on mutual restraint rather than brinkmanship after missile crisis

Khrushchev wanted to limit…

the number of countries with nuclear weapons to maintain status quo