How did Clausewitz’s theory of warfare affect Kennedy and Khrushchev’s decision-making process during the Cold War? The Cold War was a period of tension in which a war of control between two superpowers emerged. The United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were involved in bitter disputes over who was the most powerful state in the world. Due to this tension, decision making by the leaders of these countries became paramount as
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Comment [MG2]: The introduction is about 10% of the total word count of the essay. Comment [MG3]: Brief contextual information related to the question is included in the introduction.
the political environment could change in an instant. John F Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s decisions during the Cold War will be analysed in further detail by addressing Clausewitz’s theory of warfare as well as decision-making considerations such as the leader’s specific perspectives as well the role of geopolitics and contingency plans. The Cuban Missile Crisis will be used to further explain these considerations.
Carl von Clausewitz, a theorist from the 1800s, specialised in the nature of war and believed in the importance of context when understanding the dynamics of possible warfare (Paret, 1989: 186). This concept was not foreign to President Khrushchev of the USSR and President Kennedy of the USA who both paid attention to the importance of the circumstances during the 1960s and understood that the context was riddled with problems due to individuals, solutions, ideologies and opportunities for power and wealth (Eisenhartdt & Zbaracki, 1992: 27). This resulted in the bipolarity of these superpowers in the international community being led by two very different leaders, whose psychology affected the events throughout the Cold War.
Clausewitz believed that psychology and education were important elements that were fundamentally at the centre of warfare (Paret, 1989: 204). This is an important view point related to the decision making of the Cuban Missile Crisis as policies and decisions emerged from leaders’ perceptions as well as their political advisors’ theoretical and political education. For example, President Kennedy wanted the USSR to remove its missiles without feeling humiliated or going to war (Allison, 1971: 57). Many theorists believe this is the reason Kennedy decided a blockade would be wiser than invading Cuba (Bell, 1978: 51). Kennedy’s decision for the blockade was supported by the Executive Committee of the
Comment [MG4]: The points that will be further discussed are mentioned in order of discussion in the introduction.