The Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Premier Khrushchev

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.The onus of a decision is now back on Soviet Premier Khrushchev. He must now decide if he is willing to risk a nuclear war just for the prestige of Brian the protector of the (hoped for) worldwide communist revolution. When the quarantine was announced, there were 22 Soviet ships headed to Cuba. 14 of those had turned back around, but as of October 25, there were still eight ships headed directly toward the American blockade. We can now say with certainty that the game is afoot. One of the most important questions we can ask is,... what kind of game are we playing?. Are we playing British philosophers Bertrand Russell's game of "chicken" and brinksmanship whereby two hooligans drive their hot rods directly at each other... daring each other not to …show more content…
I do not think the "chicken" analogy precisely fits the Cuban missile crisis. The players (President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev) are not acting simultaneously, they are rather acting alternatively in sequence with each player basing his next move upon what his adversary did last. The missile crisis is in that respect like the game of chess. In the game of chess, aggressive moves can give you a forceful initiative that gives you chances to win even if you are materially behind. This was the situation that Khrushchev found himself in and may explain why he was willing to take such a huge risk trying to get these missile sites operational before the United States found out. There was a very important aspect of the missile crisis which resemble the strategic decisions made in poker a lot more than the decisions made at the chessboard. Chess you see, is a game of perfect information. Both players can see the entire chess board upon every move and nothing is hidden. Poker, by contrast, is a game of imperfect information. Neither player knows the exact strength of the other players cards. Every player must gauge the strength of his hand based upon how strongly or weakly the other

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