Soviet Strategy For National Security Essay

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan just to see themselves as the big “Losers” of the war. The defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan was a serious blow to the prestige of the Army, to national pride and faith in the soviet political leaders. The scars it left on many of the remaining soldiers created social and political problems. A reform of the military was necessary. In the midst of all these turmoil, “there was also corruption and inefficiency within the states bureaucracy” (p.3 smitha.com) and nothing seemed to get done. The soviet people and some Eastern European countries were fed up of all these ongoing problems the Soviet Union was facing. The soviet people were fed up with the high communist party which stood ground and dominated the entire soviet politics, as this was the only party in the states since Stalin’s regime. The party had become rigid and corrupt which discouraged younger party members who saw little chance of advancement. At this stage corruption was the order of the soviet system of government which buoyed lack of commitment to the government.

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 1979, the goal was to help Afghan communist forces set up a communist government. The Soviet Union felt Afghanistan had key resources and a foothold in the Middle East to spread communist ideas. The result would be a war that the Soviet Union wishes it never got involved in and likened to their “Vietnam War”, meaning winning a number of battles but not the war like what happened to the U.S. in Vietnam. The background of the war, outcome of the war, and impact on the United States are key to understanding the Soviet-Afghan War.

“If the Soviet Union let another political party into existence they would still be one state party state because everybody would join the other party,” is a quote by Ronald Reagan about the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union(USSR) is a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1999. It's fall resulted from its government-run economy not working very well. Soviet Union was run by Vladimir Lenin, dictator who overthrew Russian monarchy, and Bolshevik communist. At first USSR aligned with the US to defeat the Nazi Germany. But the countries soon turn against each other due to the difference in perspective about how government should run in 1945. Their clash was a major part of cold war. Now with all this information

In 1961 President John F Kennedy put together a doctrine, which altered from President Eisenhower’s one. It was to “Respond flexibly to communist expansion, especially guerrilla warfare.” (Roskin & Berry, 2010, p. 58) It was a time when the Cold War was at its height and nuclear weapons a mass threat and source of power. This doctrine was aimed at using alternative means before opening into combat. This, in light of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, it succeeded in doing.

In 1979, the USSR took control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, and tried to gain control over the whole country and its people. The invasion was a failure, costing thousands of lives and having serious consequences.

When the soviet union invaded afghanistan the war lasted for 9 years 1979-1989. Between 1 million to 1.5 million people were killed in that war and millions of people when to a diffrent countries such as pakistan or iran as refugees. The United States supported Afghanistan by supplying arms to the Mujahadeen. Ronald Reagan sent billions of dollars to the Mujahadeen so he can help Jihad against the Soviet Union. “Reagan believed this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible. Reagan deployed CIA special activities division paramilitary officers to train, equip and lend the Mujahideen battalion against the Soviet army”. Reagan’s objective was winning the Cold War and the rollback of communism. The United States also offered financial and

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan- In 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan to support the communist government in Afghanistan against noncommunist guerillas supported by the Americans and West. The war began when the USSR began land reforms that were resented by many people, which The war dragged on, costing thousands of Soviet lives despite the fact that the Soviet troops were not able to achieve their objectives, hence the reason why the war was called “Russia’s Vietnam.” Osama bin Laden was among the anti-Communist guerillas and would later lead the terrorist organization that orchestrated the 9/11 attacks.

Similar to other countries President Reagan was helping fight the Soviets by providing the guerrillas with an extensive amount of military assistance in their fight against the invading Soviets. In part due to the financial, weapons and military training support from America the Afghan rebels were able to eventually defeat the Soviet Union’s military. Some critics are criticizing President Reagans doctrine and claim that in no way did it help the situation in Afghanistan, many of them claim that it was an epic failure. Others believe the doctrine was instrumental in helping bring an end to communism. One specific advantage that has been credited to the doctrine was “the lack of direct involvement of American troops, which allowed the United States to confront Soviet allies without sustaining casualties” (Reagan Doctrine, 2014). In addition it has been argued that it was President Reagan’s pursuit of the Strategic Defense Initiative that bankrupted the Kremlin leadership, prompting a liberalization of the Soviet political economy that brought down the entire

Just as civil conflict led to international conflict, international conflict lead to additional threats from other countries. Although GB only became involved with Afghanistan to prevent Russia from invading, within two centuries their involvement became futile. In 1979, Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Even after a long period of independence in Afghanistan, Afghan troops were unable to defeat the Soviets. The war was brutal, and lasted for an entire decade. Afghanistan remained a weak state from the Soviet-Afghan war, which made them susceptible to intervention from the U.S in 2001. Both events, the Soviet invasion and the arrival of American troops, can be traced back to the border. The border led to complex issues which occurred in quick succession, therefore Afghanistan and Pakistan had to pay attention to the issues that were right in front of them, because they were so apparent and pressing. However, as Af and Pak were distracted, more powerful countries like America and Russia were able to invade. It was an awareness of surrounding political climates that kept Russia and GB out of Afghanistan during the first Anglo-Afghan war, but with their own borders and issues to worry about Af and Pak paid no attention to other

For example, the efforts of the United States led to the withdrawal of the Soviet Union troops from Afghanistan in 1988. In 1989, the diplomatic efforts lead to the Soviet Union ending its arms shipments to the Republic of Nicaragua (McCormick, 2010).

There is very little doubt that this decade of 20th century was characterised by a very vicious strategic rivalry between the two contemporary super powers. Although the Soviet-US Enmity was the most dominant factor of this war, yet it was never fought between these two countries. One can argue that this was the only US war where not even a single US soldier received even a single bullet. With very little doubt, one can say that this US-Soviet war was actually fought between Pakistan and the USSR, where the Pakistani army was fighting to fulfil its commitments with its ally. A tussle between Kabul and Moscow finally involved an active role by Islamabad and Washington. Both Islamabad and Washington were able to rebuild their relationship a

In 1979 the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, an action that the U.S national Security advisor Brzezinski considered, “the greatest threat to peace since WWII.” The Soviets seized control of the government, killed President

The Afghanistan invasion was a significant event of the Cold War between the USA and USSR. Afghanistan was a continuation of the way communism wanted to proceed. The West feared the expansion of communism. This closely follows the Domino Theory, which

The utilization of airborne troops to seize major airports provided Soviet held locations for the influx of logistical support, combined with the simultaneous invasion of land forces (Prague Spring, 1968, p. 5). However, the similarities of the two invasions would eventually lead to the demise of Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The Soviet invasion force based on Soviet Airland battle doctrine was largely division-centric, designed to counter the conventional warfare threat that existed in central Europe against equivalent NATO forces. Predominantly mechanized and motorized, its composition was not conducive to fighting in the restricted terrain of Afghanistan. Consequently, given that the Red Army was very adept at seizing key infrastructure in urban areas, fused with the Kremlin’s plan of training and equipping the Afghan Army to control the rural areas, they expected to stabilize Afghanistan within two to three

Alluding to Afghanistan as a "draining wound", Gorbachev conceded thrashing and in 1988 proclaimed the Soviet Union's withdrawal from a clash that had turned into their 'Vietnam'. A year later, in February 1989, the last Soviet fighter left Afghanistan.