<P> The crisis was caused by the placement of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, an island that was within the "Sphere of Influence" and launching distance of the US . This was arguably an act of brinkmanship from the USSR, intimidating the US with weapons within the region . The US responded to the presence of the weapons by blockading Cuba . The Cuban blockade was also an act of brinkmanship since the US, instead of succumbing to the pressure from the USSR, decided to see how the Soviets would react to the US stopping their vessels from entering Cuba . </P> <P> It can be argued that Brinkmanship, in this case, went too far . Had the US attacked Cuba through an airstrike to eliminate the weapons, the USSR may have responded in Berlin where NATO would have been pulled into a war . Had the US left the weapons where they were they would have been a threat to the majority of the American population, in the case of a Cuban missile strike . In either of the cases, retaliation could have led to a full - scale nuclear war . Had any of the two superpowers been pushed over the brink the lives of millions of people would have been at stake . </P> <P> Successful brinkmanship, however, is when you push your enemy to the brink of war, but not over it, getting him to back down under the pressure . Considering this, Brinkmanship during the Cuban Missile Crisis was successful, as war was avoided . The crisis, however, was a peculiar case of brinkmanship since the two opposing powers had near equal power during the crisis . Thus, in order to avoid war, both powers backed down and compromised, the Soviets removing their weapons from Cuba and the Americans secretly agreeing to remove missiles from Turkey . (2) </P> <P> The US was building up its missiles, with President Eisenhower issuing the National Defense Education Act in 1958, which was an attempt to close the missile gap with the Soviets . It gave funds to U.S. schools to start researching more so that the United States' military could catch up with the Soviet's technology . Eisenhower also started N.A.S.A. which was originally made for the purpose of researching missile technology . </P>

How did the brinkmanship increase tensions during the cold war