Up to 1949, it can be said that the US policy of containment in Europe had been successful. Territorially, communism had made no gains and the one obvious attempt at Soviet expansion had been stopped by the Berlin airlift of 1948.The dangerous confrontation that had brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in 1962 had resulted in the US guaranteeing not to attempt to overthrow communist leader Fidel Castro. Cuba...