The Cuban Missile Crisis has been hailed as one of the greatest triumphs in our modern history, and is certainly the closest this country has ever come to a nuclear war. However, America has recently increased aggression against Iran and has received warnings from both China and Russia. Russia and China have said they will not tolerate a pre-emptive and aggressive attack on Iran by the United States. Are we headed for another nuclear war and are there lessons we can learn from the Cuban Missile Crisis? If we listen to each presidential candidate, we are led to believe that a nuclear attack by Iran is imminent and we have no choice but to attack them preemptively. , with the exception of Ron Paul. Ron Paul is a sane voice amidst the war cries. Ron Paul took the time to read Department of Defense reports, CIA findings, and IAEA reports regarding the threat from Iran. In these findings, there is nothing to lead America to believe that Iran wishes to use a nuclear weapon against any other country. Based on these findings, we must ask whether there is a better way to handle Iran than imposing sanctions that hurt the Iranian people or pursuing acts of aggression. Can we learn a valuable diplomatic lesson from the past? Let's look back at what happened in the 1960s. The world was on the brink of nuclear war, the United States military was ready for action, and the Soviet commanders, stationed on the island of Cuba, were ready to defend the island with nuclear weapons if necessary. By the early 1960s, the United States was far ahead of the Soviet Union in the arms race. The Soviets only had missiles that could reach Europe, but nothing powerful enough to reach North America. T...... middle of paper ...... like John F. Kennedy did. Listening to their words, their actions and their policies, only Ron Paul resonates with the same virtues that Kennedy possessed. Ron Paul is often labeled an isolationist, although nothing could be further from the truth. An isolationist is one who takes a protectionist position, closing borders and hindering free trade so that their nation is safe and closed without diplomatic relations. A non-interventionist believes in a policy of free and open trade, non-aggression, non-control of the world and open diplomatic talks. If it were not for John F Kennedy's willingness to open lines of communication with Khrushchev, the United States would likely have fought the first nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis can teach us valuable lessons about the correct approach to dealing with foreign threats, if we are careful to learn from them.