The most serious Cold War confrontation between the United States and the USSR that took place in the Third World, occurred in 1962. In the summer of that year, the U.S. government discovered that the Soviets were in the process of deploying nuclear missiles in Communist Cuba. In October, the United States moved to block Soviet ships carrying missiles to Cuba. The resulting standoff was that the world stood seemingly on the brink of ultimate disaster and nuclear war. The crisis ended with Khrushchev surrendering to the demands of U.S. president John F. Kennedy. The Cuban Missile Crisis gave the opportunity for both sides to reflect on the fact that risking nuclear war in pursuit of political objectives was simply too dangerous.…
