Part 5/10:
The narrative underscores how close humanity came to nuclear annihilation multiple times during the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when the world teetered on the brink of thermonuclear war, exemplifies this peril. Castro's willingness to sacrifice Cuba for the defeat of the United States, and the near-launch of American missiles, are stark warnings of how dangerously close the planet was to total destruction. Another incident, in 1984, involved Russian early warning systems mistakenly indicating an American missile attack, nearly triggering retaliation—a testament to the precariousness of nuclear deterrence.