50th Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis

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The Wilson Center's Cold War International History Project (CWIHP), in cooperation with partners in Washington and around the world, will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis with a series of talks and discussions with the goal of drawing lessons from that crisis that can inform today's policymakers on crisis management and Presidential decision-making. CWIHP will also maintain a list of all the Missile Crisis-related events taking place in Washington, DC and around the world. For questions please contact the event organizers. To add an event to this list, write to Pieter.Biersteker@wilsoncenter.org.

 Video

CONTEXT with Martin J. Sherwin 
On The Brink Part 6: Final Thoughts on The Cuban Missle Crisis

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/the-brink-part-6-final-thoughts-the-cuban-missle-crisis

brightcove.createExperiences();

On the Brink Part 1: with Timothy Naftali
On the Brink Part 2: with Philip Brenner
On the Brink Part 3: with Svetlana Savranskaya
On the Brink Part 4: with James Hershberg
On the Brink Part 5: with Robert Norris

PUBLICATIONS

Now Available – CWIHP Bulletin Issue 17/18,

“The Global Cuban Missile Crisis”

[ Download PDF, 9.2 MB]

 New Evidence from Untapped Archives, Including: 

• When Che Met Mao – The first encounter of two great revolutionary icons
• The View from Havana – New translations give glimpses behind the “sugarcane curtain”
• Anastas Mikoyan's "Mission Impossible" – The Soviets’ “hidden crisis,” convincing Fidel Castro to relinquish the missiles
• Khrushchev Unplugged – Candid comments from the Soviet leader only days after the crisis’ resolution
• Would-Be Mediators? – Interventions and secret diplomatic channels via Brazil, Poland, and the Netherlands
• Post-Crisis Cuba and the Soviet Bloc – Raul Castro in Eastern Europe and Aleksei Kosygin in Havana

 Calendar of Events

Exhibit Opening: "Eavesdropping on History - JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis"
Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery, The National Archives
12 October 2012 - 3 February 2013

JFK Library Conference on the Cuban Missile Crisis
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA
14 October 2012, 12:00PM-5:00PM
 

Is the World More Dangerous 50 Years After the Cuban Missile Crisis? National Conversation at the Wilson Center
Woodrow Wilson Center
Speakers will include: Jane Harman, (President, Director, & CEO, Wilson Center) Graham Allison, (Director, Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs) Timothy Naftali, (Senior Research Fellow, New America Foundation) Michael Dobbs, (former Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar, author of One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of War). The National Conversation will be moderated by NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten
15 October 2012, 1:00PM-2:30PM

Book Talk: The Armageddon Letters: Kennedy/Khrushchev/Castro in the Missile Crisis
Abramson Family Founders Room, School of International Service, American University
James Blight and janet Lang (Balsillie School of International Affairs) Moderated by James Goldgeier (American University) 
16 October 2012, 12:00PM-1:30PM

Book Talk: The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis by Svetlana Savranskaya
Woodrow Wilson Center
Svetlana Savranskaya (Senior Fellow, National Security Archive) will discuss her new book published by the Wilson Center Press. Phillip Brenner (American University, Sad and Luminous Days: Cuba’s Struggle with the Superpower after the Missile Crisis) James G. Hershberg  (George Washington University)
17 October 2012, 3:30PM-5:00PM

Minute by Minute: The Role of Intelligence in the Cuban Missile Crisis
International Spy Museum, Washington, DC
17 October 2012, 5:00PM-8:30PM
 

Book Talk: Blind over Cuba: The Photo Gap and the Missile Crisis with author Max Holland
School of International Service, American University. Abramson Family Founders Room.
Max Holland (Editor, Washington Decoded) David Barrett (Villanova University) Moderated by Michael Dobbs (One Minute to Midnight, Kennedy, Krushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War)
18 October 2012, 1:00PM-2:00PM

Eyeball to Eyeball: The Inside (Photographic) Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Airbus IMAX Theater at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
Dino Brugioni (photographic Interpreter during Kennedy administration, author of Eyeball to Eyeball)
19 October 2012, 7:30PM (doors open at 6:30)

Book Talk: The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis by Svetlana Savranskaya
School of International Service, American University. MGC 203/205
Svetlana Savranskaya (Senior Fellow, National Security Archive) Moderated by Philip Brenner (American University, Sad and Luminous Days: Cuba’s Struggle with the Superpower after the Missile Crisis)
22 October 2012, 5:30PM-7:00PM 

Foreign Relations of the United States and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Woodrow Wilson Center
Philip Zelikow (Univeristy of Virginia) Edward C. Keefer (Former General Editor of Foreign Relations of the United States)
23 October 2012, 4:00PM-5:30PM

Film Screening: "The Missiles of October" (USA, 1974)
The Allied Museum, Berlin, Germany
23 October 2012, 6:30PM CET
 

The Nuclear Order of Battle during the Cuban Missile Crisis
Woodrow Wilson Center
Robert S. Norris (Senior Fellow, Federation of American Scientists), David A. Rosenberg (Nuclear Historian/Defense Analyst)
24 October 2012, 3:30PM-5:00PM

Book Talk: Fifty Years of Revolution: Perspectives on Cuba, the United States and the World by Ron Pruessen
School of International Service, American University. SIS 300
Ronald Prussen (Professor, University of Toronto) Robert Pastor (American University) Philip Brenner (American University, Sad and Luminous Days: Cuba’s Struggle with the Superpower after the Missile Crisis)
24 October 2012, 12:30PM-1:30PM

The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Fifty Year Retrospective Assessment 
Gregynog Hall, Centre for Intelligence and International Security Studies, Aberystwyth University
Speakers will include: Christopher Andrew (University of Cambridge) Len Scott (CIISS, Aberystwyth University) Michael S. Goodman (King's College London) H. Keith Melton (Intelligence specialist) and Don Munton (University of Northern British Columbia)
25-27 October 2012

The Global Cuban Missile Crisis—New Evidence, 50 Years On at George Washington University
Elliott School of International Affairs Building, State Room (7th floor), 1957 E St. NW
An all-day symposium featuring presentations of new findings by leading scholars, in conjunction with the forthcoming special issue of the CWIHP Bulletin on "The Global Cuban Missile Crisis." 
David M. Barrett (Villanova University); Thomas S. Blanton (National Security Archive); Gregg Brazinsky (George Washington University); William Burr (National Security Archive); Malcolm Byrne (National Security Archive); David G. Coleman (University of Virginia); Michael Dobbs (author of One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War); Margaret K. Gnoinska (Troy University); Hope M. Harrison (George Washington University); James G. Hershberg (George Washington University); Max Holland (co-author of Blind Over Cuba: The Photo Gap and the Missile Crisis); Peter F. Klaren (George Washington University); Mark Kramer (Harvard University); William LeoGrande (American University); Garret Martin (European Institute); Timothy J. Naftali (New America Foundation); Christian F. Ostermann (Cold War International History Project, Wilson Center); James Person (North Korea International Documentation Project, Wilson Center); Stephanie Popp (MA Candidate, George Washington University); Sergey Radchenko (Nottingham University at Ningbo); Svetlana Savranskaya (National Security Archive); Douglas B. Shaw (George Washington University); Martin J. Sherwin (George Mason University); Gregory Tomlin (Doctoral candidate, George Washington University); Vadislav M. Zubok (Temple University).
26 October 2012, 9:00AM-9:00PM

Cold War Conversations IV, The Cuban Missile Crisis: 50 Years Later
Co-sponsored by the Cold War Museum and George Mason University, Harris Theater, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA
Keynote address delivered by Sergei Khrushchev (Professor, Brown University). Speakers will include: Martin Sherwin (George Mason University, author of Gambling With Armageddon: The Military, the Hawks and the Long Straight Road to the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1945-1962) Michael Dobbs (author of One Minute to Midnight) Svetlana Savranskaya (National Security Archive, The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis) Lt. Commander Tad Riley (USN, Ret, F8U-1P Crusaders pilot) Buddy Brown (USAF, Ret, U-2 pilot) Dino Brugioni (photographic Interpreter during Kennedy administration, author of Eyeball to Eyeball) Ken Jack (Blue Moon over Cuba: Aerial Reconnaissance during the Cuban Missile Crisis) Norman Polmar and John D. Gresham (DEFCON 2: Standing on the Brink of Nuclear War During the Cuban Missile Crisis) Harvey Simon (The Madman Theory), and David Stokes (Camelot’s Cousin)
27 October 2012, 8:30AM-1:15PM

Book Talk: The Fourteenth Day: JFK and the Aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis by David G. Coleman
Northern Virginia Community College, Loudoun Campus, Waddell Theater
David G. Coleman (University of Virginia), with a book signing to follow the talk.
29 October 2012, 6:30PM

The Cuban Missile Crisis: 50 Years Later
The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, Harry Harding Auditorium
Rose Gottemoeller (Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security) and Sergey Kislyak  (Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States).
30 October 2012, 6:00PM-8:00PM

National Conversation

Is the World More Dangerous 50 Years After the Cuban Missile Crisis? A National Conversation

October 15, 2012

Introduction: Jane Harman
Director, President, and CEO, Wilson CenterPanel:Graham Allison
Director, Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Michael Dobbs
Former Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar, former Washington Post reporter and author of One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of War
Timothy Naftali
Senior Research Fellow, New America FoundationModerator:Tom Gjelten
National Public RadioCuban Missile Crisis Resources

• CWIHP’s Collection of Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis -- Check back regularly for new updates and documents!
• The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Nuclear Order of Battle, October/November 1962
• Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Nuclear Order of Battle
• Cold War Museum Exhibit on the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland on the Crisis
• Foreign Policy’s On the Brink: Tweeting the Cuban Missile Crisis +50
• Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XI, Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath
• Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, American Republics; Cuba 1961–1962; Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath, Volumes X/XI/XII, Microfiche Supplement (Preview edition)
• Francis J. Gavin on the Cuban Crisis in The National Interest 
• Harvard’s Kennedy School and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs’ 50th Anniversary Website
• JFK Library Resources on the Cuban Missile Crisis
• @MissileCrisis62: Realtime tweets on the Cuban Missile Crisis from Michael Dobbs and Foreign Policy
• The National Security Archive’s Collection of Cuban Missile Crisis Documents
• The Armageddon Letters
• Minute by Minute: The Role of Intelligence in the Cuban Missile Crisis (a case-based simulation for students published by the International Spy Museum)

Social Media

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