Triumph of diplomacy: The Cuban missile crisis

The world on the edge: Setting the stage for crisis

In the early 1960s, the Cold War had entered a perilous new phase. Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were running high following failed attempts to influence global politics through proxy conflicts and covert operations. Among them was the botched Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, a CIA-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro, which drove Cuba closer into the Soviet orbit.

In response to what they perceived as growing US aggression, the Soviet Union made a covert decision to install medium-range and intermediate-range nuclear missiles on Cuban soil. These weapons had the potential to strike much of the continental United States within minutes. For the Soviets, this move was meant as both a strategic equaliser and a shield for their Cuban ally.

As U-2 reconnaissance planes confirmed the missile sites under construction in mid-October 1962, the Kennedy administration faced a terrifying prospect – nuclear war on its doorstep. 

‘It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba… as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States,’ President Kennedy would later declare.

Thirteen days: A crisis unfolds

From 16 to 28 October 1962, the world held its breath as the two superpowers stood on the brink of nuclear conflict. President Kennedy convened the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm) to debate possible responses, ranging from surgical airstrikes to a full-scale invasion.

Ultimately, Kennedy chose a naval blockade—termed a ‘quarantine’—to prevent further delivery of Soviet missiles and equipment to Cuba. The measure was firm and deliberately measured, designed to give diplomacy a chance while signalling US resolve. On 22 October, Kennedy addressed the nation in a now-iconic televised speech announcing the discovery and the blockade.

The Soviet response was tense but measured. Khrushchev denounced the US blockade as an act of aggression, but both leaders remained wary of triggering a war neither side truly wanted. As Soviet ships approached the quarantine line, the world edged closer to the abyss.

Behind the curtain: The secret negotiations

While the public stood mesmerised by the unfolding crisis, backchannel diplomacy was already underway. Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin and US Attorney General Robert Kennedy held confidential meetings that proved pivotal. The real progress, however, came via direct communications between Khrushchev and Kennedy.

On 26 October, Khrushchev sent a message offering to remove the missiles in exchange for a US guarantee not to invade Cuba. The following day, a second message arrived with a more complex proposal: removing US Jupiter missiles from Turkey. The differing tones of the two letters raised suspicions within the White House.

Kennedy decided to publicly accept the terms of the first letter while privately agreeing to the second. His brother Robert delivered the message to Dobrynin: the USA would quietly dismantle its Turkish missiles within a few months, but this could not be made public. 

‘We are under a serious obligation not to be humiliated,’ Kennedy noted privately, keen to avoid appearing weak while defusing the crisis.

The moment of decision: Avoiding the apocalypse

The final days of the crisis were marked by high anxiety and military escalation. On 27 October, a US U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba, and American forces moved to DEFCON 2—the highest level of alert ever reached during the Cold War. Pressure mounted on both leaders to either escalate or find a way out.

Despite the increasing danger, cooler heads prevailed. Khrushchev recognised that pushing further might lead to an all-out nuclear war. In a radio broadcast on 28 October, he announced that the Soviet Union would dismantle the missile installations in Cuba and return the weapons to the USSR under UN supervision.

Kennedy, in turn, publicly pledged not to invade Cuba. The unpublicised agreement to remove American missiles from Turkey would quietly take place in the following months. The standoff had ended—not with force, but through cautious, calculated diplomacy.

Timeline of key events

14 October 1962: U-2 spy planes photograph Soviet missile sites under construction in Cuba.

16 October: President Kennedy is briefed; the ExComm begins daily meetings.

22 October: Kennedy addresses the nation and announces the naval ‘quarantine’.

24 October: Soviet ships approach the quarantine line but turn back.

26 October: Khrushchev sends the first letter proposing a peaceful resolution.

27 October: A second, more demanding letter arrives; a US U-2 is shot down over Cuba.

28 October: Khrushchev agrees to remove the missiles; Kennedy responds with a non-invasion pledge.

Lessons from the brink: Diplomacy in the nuclear age

The Cuban Missile Crisis is now seen as one of the most successful cases of crisis diplomacy in modern history. Both Kennedy and Khrushchev managed to achieve their objectives without war—Kennedy got the missiles removed, and Khrushchev secured Cuba’s sovereignty and a promise that the USA would not invade.

Dual-track diplomacy makes the resolution remarkable – firm public posturing combined with quiet, private negotiation. Each leader needed a way to back down without appearing weak, and they gave each other the space to do so. 

‘It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilisation,’ Kennedy would later reflect.

Today, the Cuban Missile Crisis reminds us that even in moments of high tension, dialogue, empathy, and strategic compromise are not signs of weakness – they are the foundation of peace.