Evaluation of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Foreign Policy Analysis within the Cold War : The John F. Kennedy Administration, 1961 - 1963

Abstract

An attempt was made to analyze the decision making of the presidential administration of John F. Kennedy from 1961-63, with regards to the Cold War; specifically, it was the intent to analyze the decision making of U.S.-Soviet relations of the mid-Twentieth Century, their effects on the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the effect of said crisis on U.S.-Soviet relations to come. Utilizing analysis of qualitative historical case studies to evaluate the impact of said decision making, this research intends to use operational code analysis of the Kennedy administration to evaluate cognitive reasoning behind decision making points during the crisis, such as the use of descriptors such as quarantine and blockade to justify legitimate use of military action. The Office of the Historian web page – specifically the Foreign Relations of the United States section hosts a compendium of declassified government documents of administrations containing government memoranda, meeting minutes, meeting transcriptions, records of action, and notices between foreign dignitaries.