Crateology was the 'science' of identifying the contents of Soviet shipments to the Island of
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
carried out by the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
during the
Cuban Missile Crisis.
Crateology has declined as a discipline in recent years due to globalisation and the decline in the usage of custom made wooden crates in favour of standard metal
shipping container
A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...
s. Though making the world intra-connected and smaller, globalisation has resulted in the loss of not merely a science, but a 'beautiful art form'.
[D. Salisbury (2009). The Crate Escape: Packaging and its Typonomy and Taxonomy Throughout The Cold War.]
See also
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Aerial photographic and satellite image interpretation
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CIA activities in Cuba
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Cuban Missile Crisis
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National technical means of verification National technical means of verification (NTM) are monitoring techniques, such as satellite photography, used to verify adherence to international treaties. The phrase first appeared, but was not detailed, in the SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Trea ...
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Remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Eart ...
References
Cold War military history of the Soviet Union
Cuba–United States relations
History of Cuba
1962 in Cuba
History of the foreign relations of the United States
Presidency of John F. Kennedy
Nikita Khrushchev
Nuclear history of the United States
Nuclear warfare
Cuba–Soviet Union relations
Soviet Union–United States relations
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