On October 24, the second session of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club was held in Moscow. The session was titled “Cuban Missile Crisis After Sixty Years: Is Nuclear Deterrence Still in Place?”.
The story sometimes rhymes oddly. Just in time for the anniversary of the most dangerous military-political crisis, when the world was on the verge of a nuclear collision, this topic is back on the agenda. Fear of the nuclear threat, which served as an important deterrent sixty years ago, has now subsided, and does not force opponents to engage in a serious conversation about mutual guarantees and restraint. What does it take to get back on track with threat reduction negotiations? And will the current crisis prompt this?