Read the following passage and answer the following questions:

The Cuban missile crisis was a high point of what came to be known as the Cold War. The cold War referred to the competition, the tensions and a series of confrontations between the United States and soviet Union, backed by their respective allies. Fortunately, it never escalated into a hot war, that is a full-scale war between these two powers.

a. Why was the Cuban missile crisis considered as a high point of Cold War?

b) mention any two contentious issues between USA and USSR?

c) name any two military alliances formed by the USA during the Cold War?

a)The Cuban missile crisis was considered as a high point of cold War because of:

i. The conflict between the US and USSR over the military base of USSR in Cuba against US Interest.

ii. Kennedy ordered American warships to intercept any soviet ships heading to Cuba as a way of warning.

b)

The contentious issues between USA and USSR are mentioned below:

i. The ideological dispute between the socialist system and the communist system.

ii. It had led to the military blocs and started an arms race and accumulation of nuclear weapons

c)

Military alliances formed during the cold wars were:

i. NATO : The countries of western Europe that had sided with the US during the cold war era are called the western alliance. This western alliance was formally set up in an organisation called the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on the April 1949. It was a group of twelve states. They declared that an armed attack on any one of them in Europe or North America would be regarded as an attack on all of them. Each state would be obliged to help the other. The eastern alliance was led by the Soviet Union and was called the Warsaw Pact. It was created in 1955. Its function was to counter NATO’s forces in Europe.

ii. SEATO: SEATO is the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.It was formed in September of 1954. The member countries include the United States, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan. The aim of this was to prevent communism in these areas.

iii. CENTO : CENTO is the Central Treaty Organization. It was originally called the Baghdad Pact or the Middle East Treaty Organization. It was a military alliance of the Cold War formed in 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Kingdom. It was dissolved in 1979.