Activity Two

This activity is to accompany Unit Four of the Curriculum Guide.

Incorporating the C.E.L.s:

• Independent Learning
• Critical & Creative Thinking
• Personal & Social Values & Skills

Concept Application Lesson for: for:

• Spheres of Influence
• Strategic Interests
• Policy Options
• Superpower Confrontation
• Consequences

This concept application activity will allow students to gain insight into national decision making surrounding a recent historical event. The focus event is the Cuban missile crisis . Students will be given the opportunity to role- play the decision makers of the nations involved in that conflict.

Knowledge Objectives

The student will:

• know that geographical location can significantly influence the policy options and decision making of a nation's leaders;
• know that maintenance of a sphere of influence may require the threat and/or use of military force;
• know that a confrontation between two nuclear powers can represent a significant danger that will influence the decision making of the nations involved in the confrontation; and,
• know that the possible consequences of a policy option will influence whether that option is used.

Skills Development

The student will:

• practise the following analytical skills:
  • defining the main parts,
  • describing cause and effect relationships, and
  • describing how the parts of the whole are related to each other;
• practise relating evidence and assumptions to an argument and/or conclusions; and,
• practise developing criteria that may be used to evaluate other situations.

Values Issues

The student will:

• discuss the rationale for superpowers maintaining "spheres of influence";
• discuss the political implications for a nation that is within a sphere of influence of a major power;
• discuss the criteria that national leaders use in their decision-making processes; and,
• discuss whether a nuclear war can be limited.

Outline of the Activity

Step One

Have students form groups. One group should represent each of the following nations: United States, Soviet Union, and Cuba.

Have a class discussion focusing on the following:

• Factors that define a relationship between two nations such as geography, language, cultural and social similarities/differences, economic relationships, relative population size and ideology;
• the historic relationship between Cuba and the United States;
• the factors that influenced that relationship that developed between the United States and the new government of Fidel Castro; and,
• the reasons why the historic relationship between the two nations deteriorated?

Step Two

Groups will act as advisors to the leadership of the nations they represent. They will present recommendations to their leaders during the different phases of the confrontation.

At the end of each phase, the groups will present their position papers to the entire to class and indicate the rationale for their recommendations.

Phase One

Phase one encompasses the time period from when the Castro regime assumed power to the time that regime became an ally of the Soviet Union.

• The group representing the Soviet Union will focus on what the relationship between their nation and Cuba should be:
• Should Cuba be used as a Soviet military base?
• Should the Soviet government dissuade the Cubans from becoming a destabilizing force throughout Central America?
• How will the Soviet relationship with the United States be affected by the nature of the Soviet-Cuban relationship?

The group representing the United States will focus on the issue of Cuba becoming a communist threat and how the US will react to that "threat".

• Should the United States use its military forces to remove the Castro regime?
• Should the United States continue to "sponsor" anti-Castro Cuban attempts to remove Castro?
• Should the US permit Cuba to become a Soviet satellite and military base?
• How can the United States "contain" the communist regime and activities of Castro?

The group representing Cuba will focus on the issues associated with its relationships with the Soviet Union and the United States.

• Should Cuba allow Soviet missiles and other military installations to be established in Cuba?
• Should Cuba seek to "export" its "anti-American" revolution to other nations in the region?
• How can Cuba reduce the danger of an American invasion of Cuba?

The groups will meet together a share their positions and discuss the rationale behind their policy selections.

• They can compare their policy decisions with the actual events/decisions made to that point in the crisis.

Phase Two

Phase two begins when missile sites were identified in Cuba by American spy planes. It ends with the US decision to institute a naval blockade of the island of Cuba.

The group representing the Soviet Union will focus on the issue of continuing the construction of missile sites in Cuba.

• What are the military advantages of placing missile bases in Cuba?
• What are the "political" dangers of placing those missile bases in Cuba?
• Will the US view those missile sites as a Cuban threat to the United States or as a Soviet threat to the United States?
• Will the US take military action to remove those missile sites?
• Is Cuba "worth" the danger of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States?
• How should the Soviet Union respond to American military action against Cuba?
• How can a nuclear war be avoided?

The group representing the United States will focus on the issue of how to remove the missile bases being constructed in Cuba.

• Should the Cubans be warned that US military forces will "remove" the missile sites if the Cubans will not do so?
• Should a "limited" military response be made to destroy those missile sites?
• How will the Soviet Union react to a "limited" US military response?
• What will occur if Soviet personnel are killed when the missile sites are destroyed?
• What will occur if the Soviets refuse to accept the US naval blockade of Cuba?
• How will the US "stop" the Soviet ships from breaking the naval blockade?
• How can a nuclear war be averted?

The group representing Cuba will focus on the whether to continue the construction of the missile sites or to dismantle those sites.

• Will the US launch military action against Cuba?
• Will a possible US military attack be limited to destroying the missile sites or will it be an attempt to remove the Cuban government?
• How will the Cuban public react to the missile crisis?
• Will the Soviet Union use its military forces to protect Cuba from an American attack or invasion?
• How can a nuclear war be averted?

The groups will meet together a share their positions and discuss the rationale behind their policy selections.

• They can compare their policy decisions with the actual events/decisions made to that point in the crisis.

Phase Three

Phase three covers the time period that began immediately after the U.S. instituted a naval blockade and ends with the resolution of the crisis.

The group representing the Soviet Union will focus on the critical issue of avoiding a nuclear war with the United States.

• Can the security of Cuba be maintained without the presence of Soviet missile sites on the island of Cuba?
• Can the Soviet Union allow Cuba to be attacked or invaded by American forces?
• In return for removing the missiles from Cuba, can the Soviet Union "gain" some political or military concessions from the United States?
• How will the Soviet public and the rest of the world react to the Soviet Union removing the missiles?
• Is Cuba critical to the security of the Soviet Union?
• How can a nuclear war be avoided?

The group representing the United States will focus on the critical issue of avoiding a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

• How can the Soviet missiles be removed from Cuba short of a military clash with the Soviet Union?
• Do the missile sites represent a serious threat to the security of the United States?
• Are there any politically-acceptable "incentives" for the Soviet Union to remove the missile sites?
• How should the US react if the Soviet's refuse to remove the missile sites?
• How will the American public and the rest of the world react to an American "failure" to remove the missile sites?
• How can a nuclear war be avoided?

The groups will meet together, share their positions and discuss the rationale behind their policy selections.

• They can compare their policy decisions with the actual events/decisions made to that point in the crisis.

Step Three

Students, working individually or in groups, could prepare essays focusing on one of the following questions:

• What criteria should a nation use when deciding whether to use the military option?
• What criteria should a nation should use when deciding whether to use nuclear weapons?
• Do established and recognized "spheres of influence" act as a stabilizing or destabilizing forces in international politics and relations?
• Who benefits from "spheres of influence" - the nation who established the sphere or the nations within that sphere?
• Did any one nation "win" the Cuban missile crisis?

As a class, review the major events surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis.

• Note the historic relationship between Cuba and the United States.
• Note the relationship and the factors that influenced the relationship which developed between the United States and the new government of Fidel Castro.
• Note the events that precipitated the crisis and the confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States.
• Note the actions of the two superpowers during the crisis.
• Note how the missile crisis was resolved.