Persepctives Flashcards
Orthodox cold war cause
This view generally holds the position that the soviet union was responsible for the cold war. States that the soviets were inevitable expansionists because of their suspicion of the west and the marxist theory of the need to spread revolution throughout the world. Thus Stalin violated the agreement made at the meetings. And also imposed soviet control in eastern europe. The US therefore had to act defensively through the marshall plan, the Truman doctrine and NATO.
Revisionist cold war cause
The alternate view held the USA responsible for the cold war. They explained the onset of the cold war in terms of ‘dollar diplomacy’. They see the motives behind us foreign policy linked to the needs of capitalism. Thus containment of communism was driven by the requirement to secure markets and free trade and penetrate eastern europe.
orthodox cuban missile crisis
Kennedy was right to respond to this crisis in a firm and forceful way
The idea of imposing a quarantine exerted max pressure on the soviets while incurring minimum risk of war
Kennedy himself always remained calm and in control of the situation
He resisted pressure from the military, he was statesmanlike and did not attempt to humiliate khrushchev.
The results of the crisis helped to preserve the balance of power and world peace.
revisionist cuban missile crisis
The missiles did not affect the nuclear balance and the USA was under no greater threat. This was rather a political problem that could have been resolved by political means
The imposition of the blockade turned it into an unnecessarily dangerous situation.
Kennedy was only interested in personal and national prestige. The November elections meant he needed it to be solved rapidly.
The aftermath of the crisis was not victory but arrogance which led to the US increasing activity in vietnam.
