IP35520 - THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Module Identifier	IP35520
Module Title	THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
Academic Year	2001/2002
Co-ordinator	Dr Len Scott
Semester	Semester 2
Course delivery	Lecture	9 Hours (9 x 1 hour)
	Seminars / Tutorials	12 Hours (6 x 2 hour)
Assessment	Course work	Either method of assessment is 2 x 3,000 word essays (50% each) or	100%
	Essay	the alternative method of assessment is 1 x 2 hour exam (70%) plus 1 x 1,500 word essay (30%)	30%
	Exam	2 Hours the alternative method of assessment is 1 x 2 hour exam (70%) plus 1 x 1,500 word essay (30%)	70%

Aims

The aim of the module is to explore the debates surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, and examine how historians, political scientists and students of crisis management analyse the events of 1962. A second aim is to show how the study of the crisis illuminates various aspects of scholarship. What, for example, can recent historiography tell us about the opportunities and challenges for historical method, especially now that the Cold War is over? Third, the possible lessons of the crisis for diplomacy and crisis management are studied not just in the Cold War context, but in the age of weapons of mass destruction which we still inhabit.

Objectives

By the end of the module the student should be able to:

evaluate debates about the origins, dynamics and conclusion of the crisis.

adjudicate upon how close the world came to nuclear war in 1962.

understand the implications of recent scholarship for the interpretations of historians, political

analyse the possible lessons of the crisis for the conduct of international affairs.

10 ECTS Credits

Brief description

In October 1962 Cold War came close to nuclear war. Ever since scholars, political leaders and military officials have pondered and debated how close we were to Armageddon. The causes, courses and consequences of the crisis continue to generate debate and disagreement among academics and surviving participants on all sides.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali. 'One Hell of a Gamble': Khrushchev, Castro and Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Ernest R May and Phillip D Zelikow. The Kennedy Tapes. Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis.