Summary On October 10, 2022, Chunichi Shimbun published an article entitled “60 Years after the Cuban Missile Crisis: What Lessons can we learn from it? - The Important Role of ‘Third Parties,’” written by Dr. Toshihiko Aono, GGR researcher a­nd professor of the Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of Law. In his article, Professor Aono points out that third parties played important roles in the Cuban Missile Crisis a­nd argues that they can play an important role in the current conflicts between major powers as well. First, the professor reviews in detail the events leading up to the Cuban crisis, noting that the crisis was aggravated by the fact that the outcomes had been different from what both the U.S. a­nd the Soviet Union had planned. In such conflicts where two major powers clash, it has been thought that third countries have no power to influence how the crisis unfolds, but the professor argues that “this is not the case.” In fact, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United Kingdom a­nd the United Nations worked hard to prevent a military conflict between the United States a­nd the Soviet Union. In light of this, the professor emphasizes that citizens of third countries may also play an important role in recent major power conflicts.