12251. CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS: LEGACIES AND LESSONS FOR THE POST COLD WAR ERA. Through an examination of its legacies and lessons, this paper considers the continued relevance and policy-making implications of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the post Cold War era. While the analysis taken into account recently released information (on both the American and the Soviet side) and discusses many of the particulars and motivations behind the crisis, the objective is to draw lessons from the crisis for today's world, rather than to assign blame or bestow praise on the historical participants. The paper begins with a brief summary overview of the Cold War setting under which the crisis occurred and an outline of the central events (as best as they can be determined) of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Following this, the paper presents a detailed analysis of the major legacies (with a particular focus on U.S. policymaking and lessons of the crisis. 16 pages, 45 footnotes, 16 bibliographic sources.