Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Graham T. Allison's work, "Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis," analyzes policy-making through different lenses. The Cuban Missile Crisis, a 1962 confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba, brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.12

Allison contrasts a "rational actor" model with the "bureaucratic politics" approach. The latter suggests that policy decisions emerge from bargaining among government officials with diverse interests and positions. This approach, often summarized as "where you stand depends on where you sit," highlights how organizational and personal interests can shape policy outcomes, sometimes leading to suboptimal results. This contrasts with the idea of a single, rational decision-maker.3