After reading “What Can Be Learned from the Past?” and “Soviet Deception in the Cuban Missile Crisis,” identify any cognitive shortfalls associated with individual or group perception, memory, analysis, or biases associated with “Operation ANADYR.”

General Requirements

1. Document Format.

a. MS Word document

b. One-inch (1”) margins

c. Times New Roman Font

d. Twelve (12) pitch

e. 3-4 pages, not including your title page and bibliography

2. Citation Format: The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). This includes your citations and your bibliography.

3. Graphics are not allowed.

4. As stated in the grading rubric, students must (1) employ imaginative approaches to answer the question being asked; (2) display an impressive command of the subject matter beyond the immediately obvious; (3) demonstrate a high level of critical thinking y reflection current and world views, and genuine intellectual development; and (4) excel in explaining all major points using multiple examples from the course readings or individual research.

This outline is intended to help your structure your paper. You should not submit an outline, however. You should instead submit a paper in narrative format that contains the following elements:

Title Page.

(a) Title of the paper: Perception, Bias, and the Cuban Missile Crisis

(b) Student Name

(c) Course Number

(d) Instructor Name

(e) Date the paper was completed

Section I: Introduction.

(a) Clearly state the purpose of your paper along with the approach you’ll be taking to answer the question. Briefly summarize the key events associated with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Summarize your introduction with a clear thesis statement.

Section II: Perceiving the build-up to and eventual crisis.

(a) From the course readings/presentations, identify two specific instances where US political or military personnel mistakenly perceived the build-up to the crisis, the Soviet’s ability to successfully place nuclear weapons in Cuba, and the Soviet’s response to the crisis.  Analyze why the perception was believed to be correct and its impact on the crisis.

(b) From the course readings/presentations, identify two specific instances where US political or military personnel allowed a cognitive bias to influence their assessment/judgment  in relation to the build-up to the crisis, the Soviet’s ability to successfully place nuclear weapons in Cuba, and the Soviet’s response to the crisis. Analyze how the bias occurred its impact on the crisis.

(c) Identify two missed indicators you think would’ve allowed the US to prevent the Soviets from placing weapons in Cuba. Assess why you think these indicators were missed and how they could’ve altered the conflict had they been collected, identified, and recognized as such.

Section III: Conclusion

Section IV: Bibliography formatted in CMS. You must have a bibliography in addition to your citations that contains all sources consulted and cited in preparing your paper.

Discussion Question(s)

This week, our brief readings have taken us into the 19th century, after Independence. What do you think are the most important after effects of the colonial period that we find in 19th century Latin America, according to our readings?
Stretching this question to materials that we have not studied in this course, what stereotypes around Latin American countries do you see today that you suspect are effects of the colonial era? (you don’t have to answer this one if you don’t know much about modern Latin America, so no worries!)

Lecture 15

It is the 19th century now, and Independence is real throughout much of Latin America (maybe not Brazil, or Cuba for that matter).

Yay!

Well, kind of. The racial divisions that defined much of Latin America during the colonial era persist, and the treatment of indigenous peoples in Latin America in he 19th century after Independence is at best one of neglect, and at worst, extermination.

The political climate, however (between citizens who were once colonial criollos), is pretty contentious, with battles between Liberals and Conservatives raging throughout much of the 19th century.

Thank you Fry! We need to know just who are liberals and who are conservatives during this period! And not just that, we need to know what being a liberal or conservative in Latin America during the 19th century means!

To answer that question, I have to start by warning you: there is very little relationship between the liberals and conservatives of the 19th century and the Liberals and Conservatives that we talk about today in the United States.

Here we go:

In fact, the politics of the Liberals might actually sound a lot like what we associate with conservative politics today: privatization, individualism, and a small role played by the state to regulate trade. Ultimately, the liberals were all about equality– but it is important to recognize what equality meant to them. Keep in mind that in newly independent Latin American countries, they had just come out of an economic and political situation where inequality was simply a way of life– the crown always came first economically, and the class separation between Peninsulares, Criollos, Castas, and Indios was simply a reality with which everyone lived. Liberals challenged this ideology, believing (in theory, at least) in equality. (In practice, of course, such divisions remained, but it was an economic strategy designed to empower criollos and maybe even mestizos– two classes of people who had been shut out of the higher levels of government and the economy as a result of the Bourbon Reforms.

Conservatives in 19th century Latin American countries are actually pretty easy to define: they wanted a return to a monarchical rule. To them, the only way to preserve social order was through monarchical rule, or having a king/queen to rule over them. Of course, conservatives would benefit from this, since they were the beneficiaries of the old order before independence. Thus, for them, the challenge was to find a way (and sell it to the people?) to reinstate a monarchy while remaining and independent country. Heck, in Mexico the Conservatives offered it to Maximilian I during the French Intervention!

And now you know the differences between Liberals and Conservatives in 19th century Latin American countries, so now you can dance.

So, for about 40 years after independence in Mexico, for example the fight between these two factions was rather intense, and although conservatives did not necessarily have the wide support that Liberals did in the first half of the 19th century, their resources allowed them to keep this debate going. Take, for instance, these two articles, published in 1846 and 1847, respectively in rival Mexican newspapers, which are attached to this week’s module.

As you are reading these pieces, think about them in the context of all the political change and turmoil that you are reading about in the final chapter, the Epilogue.

1)  Many of the New World’s early explorers were looking for a shorter route around Africa to India. 

A – True

B – False

2)  The introduction of Native American foods, such as corn and potatoes, to Europe spurred a dramatic increase in Europe’s population. 

A – True

B – False

3)  The original Spanish settlement of New Mexico 

A –  experienced little missionary activity because Spanish settlers were preoccupied with farming. \

B –  was enriched by the discovery of an abundance of gold and silver.

C –   rarely came into contact with Native Americans because the Spanish killed them all upon their arrival.

D –  was led by Juan de Oñate who forced Native Americans to pay taxes to Spanish authorities.

E –  relied on hunting rather than crops such as corn because they lacked irrigation networks.

4)  Which of the following statements accurately describes the English Puritans?

A – They successfully converted James I to their beliefs.

B – They rejected the doctrines of Martin Luther.

C – They wanted to simplify religion to its most basic elements.

D – They believed in religious freedom.

E – They believed people could be saved by their own actions, not just by God’s grace.

5)  The first Jews in the colonies arrived in 

A – Maryland.

B – New Netherland.

C – Pennsylvania.

D – Massachusetts Bay.

E – Rhode Island

6)  Why was there so much division within the Anglican Church under James I? 

A – Although he was a Catholic, the church remained Protestant.

B – Dissenters believed the church needed “purifying” from Catholic rituals.

C – He granted special privileges to Puritans that were not extended to Catholics and Anglicans.

D – He was atheist, yet as king, he was also head of the church.

E – He promoted the Separatist cause and sought to appease its demands.

7)  In what way did Cecilius Calvert intend for Maryland’s colonists to be “more committed” to the colony than the colonists at Jamestown?

A – The colony remained unconcerned with converting Native Americans.

B – The colonists all came from the same church congregation in England and already knew each other.

C – The colony recruited families intending to stay rather than single men seeking quick riches.

D – The colony focused solely on tobacco exports in order to perfect the process.

E – The colony accepted only Catholics, fearing that they would clash with Protestants.

Evaluating Arguments

Below is a series of five fallacious arguments. In one paragraph each, explain why each argument is fallacious and identify the fallacy being committed. In identifying the relevant fallacy, be sure to give an explanation of what that fallacy is. Be comprehensive in your explanations, and cite at least one source to support each explanation (in APA format).

Argument 1

1.  My algebra class is a nightmare.

2.  Nightmares are bad dreams.

3.  Therefore, my algebra class is a bad dream.

Argument 2

We can trust the Andrew’s testimony because Andrew himself said so, and Andrew is a trustworthy person.

Argument 3

If we loosen the office dress code, soon everyone will start showing up naked! Therefore, we shouldn’t loosen the office dress code.

Argument 4

Nobody has disproven that there exists alien life. So, until proven otherwise, it’s reasonable to conclude that alien life does exist.

Argument 5

You shouldn’t vote Republican because Republicans hate the poor, and you shouldn’t vote Democrat because Democrats hate business owners.