SECTION II – PRIMARY READING (Social Studies Study Guide 2025–26 (“From Yalta to Malta”).)

Who is Serhii Plokhy?

A Ukrainian-American historian and Harvard professor specializing in Eastern European and Cold War history. He examines how Soviet and American leaders managed nuclear risk and miscalculation during the Cold War.

What does Nuclear Folly focus on?

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962—how miscommunication, fear, and misjudgment brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, and how it was ultimately defused.

Why did Plokhy write it?

To show how close the Cold War came to global disaster and to warn that the same dangers remain as long as nuclear weapons exist.

What conditions preceded the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Tension after the Bay of Pigs failure (1961), U.S. deployment of Jupiter missiles in Turkey, and Khrushchev's desire to protect Cuba and balance nuclear power.

What technological development shaped the crisis?

Reconnaissance advances — U-2 spy plane photography revealed Soviet missile sites in Cuba.

How does Plokhy portray John F. Kennedy during the crisis?

Cautious and strategic — Kennedy favored a naval quarantine over an air strike and relied on back-channel diplomacy to avoid war.

How is Nikita Khrushchev depicted?

As bold but impulsive; he sought to protect Cuba and assert Soviet equality but underestimated U.S. reaction and risk of nuclear escalation.

What roles did Robert Kennedy and Anatoly Dobrynin play?

Robert Kennedy served as secret negotiator for JFK; Dobrynin, the Soviet ambassador to Washington, carried messages that enabled the final agreement.

When was the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba discovered?

October 14, 1962, by U-2 photographs.

What were Kennedy's response options? (Soviet missiles in Cuba )

1) Air strike and invasion, 2) Naval blockade ("quarantine"), 3) Diplomatic negotiations. He chose the blockade on October 22.

How did the world react to the announcement of missiles in Cuba?

Fear of imminent nuclear war; DEFCON 2 was declared — the highest alert short of war in U.S. history.

What made the situation especially dangerous according to Plokhy?

Miscommunication, unauthorized actions by military personnel, and lack of clear control over nuclear weapons in Cuba.

How was the crisis resolved? (Soviet missiles in Cuba)

A secret deal: the USSR removed missiles from Cuba; the U.S. removed Jupiter missiles from Turkey and promised not to invade Cuba.

When did the Cuban Missile Crisis officially end?

October 28, 1962, when Khrushchev agreed to withdraw missiles.

What lessons did Kennedy and Khrushchev take away?

Both recognized the need for direct communication (hotline established 1963) and arms control treaties to prevent future crises.

What is the central theme of Nuclear Folly?

That nuclear deterrence and human error created a fragile balance — the Cuban Missile Crisis was as much a psychological and bureaucratic failure as a political conflict.

How does Plokhy challenge traditional views of the Crisis?

He argues it was not just a success of diplomacy but a warning about luck and miscalculation preventing catastrophe.

What role does fear play in the book's title quote, "Nuclear Folly"?

Fear served as the only effective deterrent; leaders acted rationally only when they fully grasped nuclear destruction's reality.

What long-term changes followed the crisis?

Establishment of the Moscow-Washington Hotline (1963) and the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963); temporary thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations.

How did the Crisis affect global alliances?

Cuba felt betrayed by Soviet withdrawal, China criticized Soviet "weakness," and non-aligned countries pushed for nuclear disarmament.

What is Plokhy's final warning?

That nuclear risk has not disappeared — as long as weapons exist and humans control them, another crisis remains possible.