In 1962 the world feared a nuclear holocaust when the United States discovered that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba. Both were great powers and had many global interests. Sometimes these interests clash and can lead onto a full out conflict. Such a conflict was feared by the world and had the two countries clashed, the results would have been disastrous for both. Both were nuclear powers and it leaves little to one's imagination the destruction that could have occurred had both of them used these weapons of mass destruction. At such a point when nations fear a clash they exhaust measures to prevent it from taking place and make sure that all measures are exhausted before opting for a full scale conflict. Both the sides avoided to have a full scale war during the crisis and "everyone is aware that the world did not detonate in nuclear conflagration as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis" (Robert S. Rothernberg, p.81).

             On October 16, 1962, President Kennedy was shown photographs of Cuba taken from a U.S. reconnaissance spy plane. These photographs showed the Soviet troops being busy in building nuclear capable missile sites. The Soviets had installed these missiles only 90 miles away from the coast of the United States. The U.S. armed forces were ready for an invasion and take over of Cuba once they received the approval of President Kennedy. The Soviet Union had given authority to the troops in Cuba to use the nuclear weapons if United States tries to invade Cuban soil. President Kennedy called a high level secret meeting with his advisors and this later came to be knows as the Executive Committee or ExComm. A response was to be devised and this committee had various option which included a full out invasion of Cuba. Another was a bombing strike which was dismissed. Moreover the suggestion of taking this up in the United Nations was also recommended but due to the fact that it would take a lot of time, this proposal was also dropped.