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How Far Was the U-2 Crisis a Threat to World Peace?

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How far was the U2 crisis a threat to world peace?
The U2 crisis in 1960 significantly cause relations between the US and USSR to worsen. It led toi Khrushchev refusing to attend the Paris Summit Meeting in part because Eisenhower refused to publicly apologize for it. This meant that there were problems left unsolved, such as the division of Berlin, and halted the progress the Thaw had made. Khrushchev used it as an excuse to heighten tensions between the USSR and the USA even more, leading to a propaganda victory for him and the USSR. The USSR’s success posed a threat to the US, because of this the US placed its forces on alert, ready for retaliation from the Soviets. This mistrust was part of what caused then Cuban Missile crisis which almost destroyed world peace completely with the threat of a nuclear war. It was not only the USSR who believed the US could not be trusted as a result of this incident. The U2 crisis created mistrust between China and the US, threatening world peace even further. This also led to the accelerated development of the arms race. The US developed new methods and systems for espionage instead (despite Eisenhower’s promise not to) such as the Corona Satellite program and the Lockheed D-21 unmanned drone while the USSR was able to develop a far reaching missile which they tried to place in Cuba in 1962.
On the other hand, neither of the superpowers wanted war and were not prepared to take the risks of a nuclear war. Both countries had lost many men and starting a nuclear war would not only result in the loss of troops but the loss of human civilian lives as well. Furthermore, not much (apart from the division of Berlin) was to be decided at the Paris Summit Meeting so the fact that Khrushchev chose not to partake did not mean much. Neither Khrushchev not Eisenhower were embarrassed enough to step down so the purpose of keeping up the

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