Brinkmanship in the Cold War
The consequences of brinkmanship can be deadly, leading to nuclear war˳
The 20th century saw several instances where brinkmanship was used˳ Most notable, following the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union began developing a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe via a collection of satellite states to counter growing U˳S˳ power˳ The Soviet Union adopted a communist ideology incompatible with the U˳S˳’s capitalist policies in their European reconstruction policies (i˳e˳, the Marshall Plan)˳ In turn, the U˳S˳ found communism to be a potential threat to its national security and worried about a domino effect˳ If the Soviet Union spread communism to one state, there would be a cascading effect where communism would spread exponentially˳ This period of extreme tensions, incremental threat posturing, and coming close to the brink of war lasted from 1946-1991˳
The end of the Second World War saw both powers manufacturing and stockpiling new weapons, including nuclear weapons˳ As nuclear weapons are highly lethal and have devastating and widespread consequences, their presence has contributed to the principle of mutually assured destruction (MAD)˳ MAD is a concept that states an attack on one state (particularly a nuclear state) would elicit a defensive reaction, and both parties (and potentially 3rd-party states) would be destroyed˳ Therefore, the U˳S˳ and Soviet Union endeavored to avoid conflict throughout the Cold War˳
In 1955, President Eisenhower introduced his New Look policy to balance military commitments necessary in the Cold War with the U˳S˳’ national resources˳ Understanding the principle of MAD, he emphasized reliance on strategic nuclear weapons in place of conventional weapons to stave off the temptation for the Soviets to attack˳
The Cold War was a war of ideology of capitalism vs˳ communism˳ There were many instances where both sides made highly credible threats against the other, hoping each would back down˳ President Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 and took office in 1981 with commitments to win the Cold War˳ Under his administration, the U˳S˳ helped finance revolutionary forces to fight communism and, in Eastern Europe, leave the Soviet block˳ The “Reagan Doctrine” also took a hard line on left-wing governments in Latin America to avoid the spread of communism there˳
The Cuban Missile Crisis, Brinkmanship, and its Aftermath
The best-documented example of brinkmanship in use was the placement of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962 and the subsequent response by the U˳S˳ These missiles, which were aimed at and had the capability of striking the U˳S˳, caused an immediate U˳S˳ security concern˳ This event has become known as the Cuban Missile Crisis and was perhaps the closest the world came to nuclear war˳
When U˳S˳ President John F˳ Kennedy was alerted to this threat, he ordered an immediate naval quarantine around Cuba to ensure Soviet ships could not get through˳ Meanwhile, he negotiated with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev directly and through intermediaries to de-escalate the situation and ensure no conflict would break out˳ After several days of tense negotiations, the Soviets announced they would remove their weapons from Cuba in exchange for U˳S˳ assurance they would not invade Cuba˳
Brinkmanship Examples
While the Cold War presents the clearest examples of brinkmanship in use, there are many other historical examples˳
A labor strike, an example of brinkmanship˳
