October 1962. Soviet missiles in Cuba. The world is thirteen days from nuclear war. Inside the ExComm crisis room, you must read the room before the room reads you — and find the decision that holds the line without crossing it.
Part of
Decisions That Shaped the World →
Five moments that changed history. The Cuban Missile Crisis, Gandhi's Salt March, the Berlin Airlift, Mandela's negotiation table, the Marshall Plan pitch. Each one was a decision made by a person under pressure. Practice the skills those decisions required.
Skills you'll build
What happens in this story4 scenarios
October 1962. Soviet missiles in Cuba. The ExComm table is crowded with generals and advisors and the president is looking at you. Thirteen days to find the decision that prevents nuclear war — without blinking first.
What started with thirteen days just got more complicated. Now you need to analyze pivotal historical decisions using modern decision-making frameworks — and the situation is shifting faster than your first approach can handle.
This is the moment you've been building toward. Recognizing when group pressure is distorting everyone's judgment — including yours — except now the stakes are real and there's no rehearsal. What you do next matters.
You've faced the hardest part. Now turn what you've learned into something sustainable — a way to analyze pivotal historical decisions using modern decision-making frameworks not just today, but every time this situation returns.
More stories in this course
View all →The Salt March
India, 1930. Gandhi has announced a 241-mile march to the sea to make salt illegally and break British law. You are part of the inner circle. The British administration is watching. The question is not whether to march — it is how to make the march impossible to ignore.
4 scenarios →The Corridor
Berlin, June 1948. The Soviets have closed all ground routes to the Western sectors. Two million civilians need food, fuel, and medicine. You are the Allied liaison officer. The decision between negotiation, escalation, and the impossible logistics of an airlift runs through you.
4 scenarios →The Handshake
South Africa, 1993. The apartheid state is ending. The constitutional negotiations at Kempton Park are the only thing between a democratic election and civil war. You are the ANC legal adviser. The deal requires trust between people with no reason to trust each other.
4 scenarios →Thirteen Days
October 1962. Soviet missiles in Cuba. The world is thirteen days from nuclear war. Inside the ExComm crisis room, you must read the room before the room reads you — and find the decision that holds the line without crossing it.
Start free →4 scenarios · 25 min · No account required to try