Once great powers begin directly confronting each other in each other's spheres of influence, history shows that events start moving very quickly and often spiral beyond anyone's original intentions.

Now Russia is openly signaling support for Cuba while Washington escalates pressure on Havana yet again. Russian officials condemned what they called American "interference" and pledged support for Cuba as the United States tightened sanctions and moved toward possible legal action against Raúl Castro. At the same time, reports are surfacing about Russian oil shipments to Cuba, drone concerns near Guantanamo Bay, and fears inside Washington that Cuba could once again become a strategic outpost for Russia and potentially China right off the coast of the United States.

The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 nearly pushed the world into nuclear war because Moscow and Washington were testing each other's limits. Today we are entering another period where major powers are increasingly operating aggressively near each other's strategic boundaries. NATO expanded toward Russia's borders for decades while Washington pretended Moscow would simply tolerate it forever. Now Russia is beginning to answer in kind closer to America's sphere of influence.