Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan Research Articles

The Roundabout Outcomes of the Soviet-Afghan War

The Roundabout Outcomes of the Soviet-Afghan War

Soviet Afghan War: Challenges for Pakistan

The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan has affected Pakistan’s foreign policy. Both the states are sharing common border and cultural ties. The attack on Afghanistan soil was a treat for Pakistan’s territorial integrity. Pakistan adopted policy of partnership with US in order to withdraw the Soviet Union from Afghanistan.The paper aims to explore Pakistan’s role in Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. Secondary data has been collected from books, articles and newspapers. The findings of the study suggest that Pakistan faced serious challenges due to its active role in Soviet Afghan war.

Soviet Afghan War: Challenges for Pakistan

The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan has affected Pakistan’s foreign policy. Both the states are sharing common border and cultural ties. The attack on Afghanistan soil was a treat for Pakistan’s territorial integrity. Pakistan adopted policy of partnership with US in order to withdraw the Soviet Union from Afghanistan.The paper aims to explore Pakistan’s role in Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. Secondary data has been collected from books, articles and newspapers. The findings of the study suggest that Pakistan faced serious challenges due to its active role in Soviet Afghan war.

A See-Saw Relationship: Afghanistan’s Ties with Pakistan

Afghanistan has a unique geopolitical situation, which makes it important not only for Pakistan but also for many global and regional powers. Though both neighboring countries have many common interests yet their Foreign Policy relations have been dwindling over time due to historically ingrained contemporary issues. It has a profound impact on Pakistan’s security and economic interests, such as the issue of smuggling and bilateral trade, as well as strategic issues, such as the Durand Line issue and elusive “strategic depth.” The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 was a major cause of global concern and a turning point in international politics. Soviet expansionism and the subsequent war on terror after 9/11 posed a challenge to Pakistan’s security, and the country emerged as a “frontline state.” The paper highlights what possible benefits Pakistan can accrue through viable Foreign Policy. The situation in Afghanistan has serious consequences for Pakistan’s internal and external security due to the involvement of many external actors, especially India.

The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African History

The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Middle Eastern and North African History

The involvement of Western Balkan terrorist-fighters in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq

The primary purpose of this article is to explain the meaning and consequences of foreign fighters’ participation from Western Balkan countries (WB6) in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq. In the first part, the issue of foreign fighters is discussed in historical terms. The author focuses on the examples of the Soviet inva-sion of Afghanistan and the ethno-religious conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the second part of the text, the definition framework of foreign fighters’ concept and its evolution towards foreign terrorist-fighters is dis-cussed. Then, a detailed analysis of the main problem is conducted, and several research questions are an-swered: 1) What is the scale of the phenomenon of Balkan volunteers (e.g., their number, the structure of origin, and others) in comparison to fighters from other regions? 2) What are their motivations and goals, and what are their recruitment process and ways of moving into the war zone? 3) What is the threat posed by returning fight-ers to the security of the Western Balkans, and how do individual states counteract this phenomenon? The au-thor uses mainly the following research methods: critical content analysis (literature, scientific articles, docu-ments, reports, press materials), and historical and comparative analysis. The author’s visits to this country in 2018-2020 constituted an essential contribution to the part concerning the case of Kosovo.

Intelligence, Ignorance, and Diplomacy in the Cold War: The UK Reaction to the Sverdlovsk Anthrax Outbreak

Drawing on perspectives from “ignorance studies,” this article examines a case of multiple types of expertise and ignorance within the geo-political context of the Cold War. It revisits a suspected breach of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). In 1979, an outbreak of anthrax occurred in the Russian city of Sverdlovsk, killing numerous people; Sverdlovsk was also the site of a military facility suspected by the West of undertaking biological weapons research. As news of the outbreak reached the West, first the USA, then the UK approached the USSR seeking clarification. The diplomatic path followed by the two nations involved a tricky balancing act, requiring attention to the souring of East-West relations following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the integrity of the BWC, and the remote possibility of ratifying the SALT II nuclear negotiations. Diplomatic tactics depended on epistemic issues: How to tell whether the disease outbreak was natural or a military accident, how to decide what evidence was needed? I argue that although officials and scientists did not welcome ignorance and uncertainty, they recognized it as an inevitable and highly problematic epistemological issue (can we know what happened?) and tempered it into a less problematic, or at least more manageable, pragmatic issue (is there sufficient evidence to follow a particular course of action?). This article is part of a special issue entitled “Histories of Ignorance,” edited by Lukas M. Verburgt and Peter Burke.

The Construction of the Other in Translation, Photography and Comics

This article reflects on the construction of cultural representations based on the French graphic novel Le protographe (O fotografo, in Brazil). This work of comics journalism reports on the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and uses photography as a narrative resource alongside drawings. Based on this, we reflect on the construction of the reality of the other, that is, from abroad, through the translation process, based on the analysis of excerpts from the work in which alterity is configured. Due to its formal nature, Le photographe allows one to think about the construction of the other from the perspective of translation, photography, and the narrative structure of comics. In this sense, it appears that the cultural perspective of Translation Studies can be extended to multimodal languages, that is, that are configured from the conjunction of different sign systems, which can contribute to new debates and reflections on the translation of widely translated forms of media, such as comics.

Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Afghanistan: Cultural Traits as Pivotal Factor

This paper explores the cultural values that prevailed in Afghanistan to understand the recruitment and use of underage soldiers in the long-lasting armed conflict while comparing the existing domestic and international law. The study analyzed the effect of the traditions of Afghans on child soldiering. The method was doctrinal, and therefore, the collected and analyzed data was qualitative. The analysis was thematical, where each related idea was subjected to review and evaluation. The research found that since time immemorial, the Afghan culture traditions were conducive to underage soldiering for various reasons, including peace and justice where male and female child warriors are treated as heroes, perhaps more than any other member of the Afghan society. Due to the stated reasonings, the study established that more underage soldiers were used and recruited during the period of the British Empire, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the civil war that caused the Taliban and Northern Alliance to resume control and in the post 9/11 phase of armed conflict in Afghanistan irrespective of domestic and international law that prohibited the recruitment and use of underage soldiers as it violated their basic fundamental rights of childhood.

Leverage

This article studies the connection between U.S. military aid to the Afghan Mujahedeen during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) and the rise of Islamist militias in Afghanistan during the 1990s. Funding for the Mujahedeen during the conflict exceeded over $3 billion between the Carter and Reagan presidencies, and these funds were later used by Islamist insurgents during the Afghan civil wars. However, the reasons behind the U.S. support is poorly understood. The article explores U.S. State Department and National Security Council documents to suggest that U.S. aid for the Mujahedeen was primarily given to repair US-Pakistani relations and humiliate Cold War rivals rather than to support an independent Afghanistan. The article argues that contemporary foreign policy goals incensed the United States to fund the Islamist organizations that would be Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban.

THE ROLE OF INTELLIGENCE SERVICES IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY. CASE STUDY: THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN (1979-1989)

This paper aims to present the role of intelligence services in the American foreign policy using as a case study the Afghan conflict from 1979-1989. Thus, this paper underlines the actions (or inactions) of the American intelligence services, highlighting their limitations from this period. It is important to describe the context that contributed to the start of the soviet invasion in Afghanistan and the two perspectives (American and Soviet) over the conflict. In this regard, we considered necessary an analysis on the Soviet point of view regarding the conflict and, most importantly, concerning the American involvement, having in mind the purpose of objectiveness while presenting the context and events. Using the relevant documents, testimonies and statements of former CIA officials from that period, the paper underlines the way foreign policy decisions were taken by the Administrations from Washington, during the Soviet-Afghan war, and how American intelligence services influenced the foreign policy decision-making process and the evolution of the conflict.

Pakistan’s Foreign Policy towards Afghanistan

Pakistan’s foreign policy towards Afghanistan is shaped by its quest for territorial integrity. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan remained hostile since their inception. The main factor for this rivalry was the Durand line issue which resulted in security threat from Afghanistan. The paper analyzes the bilateral conflict of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the factors responsible for their hostility. The paper also examines the foreign policy of Pakistan towards Afghanistan since its independence. The findings of the study concluded that Pakistan has adopted changes in its foreign policy towards Afghanistan particularly during Soviet Afghan war. This article relies on qualitative methods of research to describe the foreign policy of Pakistan at different intervals.

Buffered Border Corridor: The Geo-Political and Strategic Significance of the Wakhan Corridor

The geo-political importance of the Wakhan corridor and itspotential has been understood by many writers in differentways. It has its magnificence of its geographical location and a means ofcommunication as well as a highway for trade. During the Soviet occupationof Afghanistan, the Wakhan corridor remained a strategic post for its forcesand had a pivotal position in the global conflict of the two superpowers inthe early 1980's. It has strategic roads towards Afghanistan, Tajikistan,Sinkiang of China, and the northern belt of Pakistan. Pakistan as well asChina both has larger geo-political and geostrategic interests in this region;along with the U.S. strategic clash with China, it seems that the WakhanCorridor would serve as a testing ground for major land warfare in thecoming years. This paper attempts to analyze the geopolitical and strategicsignificance of the Wakhan Corridor.

AFGHAN REFUGEES IMPLICATIONS ON PAKISTAN

The paper discuss that refugees present in host state has potential economic, social, political, security and environmental impacts and create chaos and conflicts in the host state. It examines that Soviet invasion of Afghanistan has resulted massive migration of Afghan refugees, which broke out disastrous economic, social, political and environmental impacts on Pakistan. As a main recipient Pakistan placed more than three million refugees which had painful corollaries and implications on its society. The project analyses, the exodus of Afghan is one of the main causes of terrorism, inflation, child labor, drugs trade and many diseases such as poliomyelitis, Malaria etc. Furthermore, refugee influxes created environmental problems by over exploitation of natural resources, land erosion, deforestation, hunting and foraging. The economic and sociopolitical impacts creating unemployment, anger, prejudices and xenophobia among locals, which is leading society towards conflict. In this detailed analysis some examples of displaced population, its consequences and durable solutions have been identified and correlational study of refugees’ implications in other countries are also analyzed to figure out the relativity. The case of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and their implications in the country has been analyzed and it is found that withdrawal of refugees will help to maintain peace and stability in the host state.

Факторы трансформации политического ислама в мировой политике: возникновение насилия и терроризма

The article studies factors of transformation of political Islam and reasons for its “tightening” in the modern context. On the basis of the ideas of social constructivism, the author traces the main milestones in the evolution of political Islam and the formation of its radical branches that orient towards violence and terrorism. The article examines nine mega-events that ultimately determined the specifics of the modern union of Islam and poli tics — the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Islamic revolution in Iran, the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the September 11 attacks (2001), the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the “Arab Spring”, and the establishment of political Islam with a “Turkish face”. The author demonstrates that after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Islam began to gradually transform from the social phenomenon into the world-political factor. Initially, this tendency was observed in the intellectual and ideological spheres, but then penetrated practical politics. The article identifies four models of modern political Islam — Shiite, Salafi-jihadist, Takfirist-jihadist and moderate political Islam. According to the author’s conclusion, the attitude towards violence within these models is largely determined by the peculiarities of the formation, geographic ambitions and goals of the respective branches. The Shiite branch of political Islam that has established in Iran justifies violence for solving defensive tasks and appeals mainly to the categories of justice and protection of the oppressed. Salafijihadist and Takfirist groups, in essence, see violence as a key instrument for implementing the commandments of Allah and rebuilding the world on the principles of Sharia. The moderate political Islam (as shown by analyzing the case of Turkey) completely rejects violence, and religion remains largely a social phenomenon, although it is used for political purposes, in particular, to attract the electorate. On the basis of his analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that the idea of violence as an inherent element of political Islam is erroneous, but at the same time he points out risks of the increasing significance of this factor.

‘No Afghan Refugees in India’: Refugees and Cold War Politics in the 1980s

This article locates the Government of India’s refusal to grant refugee status to Afghans in Delhi in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 within the Cold War politics of the era. I trace this history through internal communications of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India from 1979 to 1983. I argue that the Indian government’s response to Afghan arrivals was shaped by geopolitical and diplomatic contingencies rather than humanitarian ones. I also examine the intertwined history of Afghan refugees and the establishment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ office in Delhi, India.

Taliban di Afghanistan: Tinjauan Ideologi, Gerakan dan Aliansi dengan ISIS

This article aims to describe the ideology and movement of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The question posed in this article revolves around what is the ideology of the Taliban? How did the term Taliban come from? Why is it easy for the Taliban to establish cooperation with al-Qaeda and ISIS? Therefore, by describing the transformation of the Taliban jihad movement since the era of the Soviet-Afghan war to the birth of the Taliban Regime, this article provides a conclusion that local conflicts in Afghanistan gave birth to the landscape of the global terrorism movement that had an impact on the development of terrorism in Indonesia.

THE MIDDLE EAST IN YUGOSLAVIA’S FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY IN THE 1970s

The main purpose of this article is to present the most important conditions and variables characterizing the role of the Middle East in Yugoslavia’s foreign policy strategy in the 1970s, based on available literature and documentation. I also intend to analyze the conditions that contributed to intensifying Yugoslavia’s position in the region and led to a decrease in Yugoslavia’s importance in the Middle East in the second half of the decade. Firstly, I will describe Yugoslavia’s relations with the countries of the Middle East in 1970–1973, especially with Egypt, where Gamal Abdel Nasser, after his death, was succeeded by the country’s Vice President, Anwar Al-Sadat. It will also be important to shed light on the Yugoslav Government’s stance regarding the Middle East conflict from the point of view of the situation in Europe. Next, I will present the significance of the Yom Kippur War for Yugoslavia’s foreign policy and its implications for Belgrade’s relations with Cairo and Tel-Aviv. Moreover, it will be extremely important to explain why Yugoslavia’s importance in the Middle East gradually diminished as of the middle of the decade. In addition, I will address the issue of Yugoslav President Josip Broz-Tito’s position toward the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the fading of Yugoslavia’s interest in the region following Tito’s death and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the summary, I want to note that the period under analysis in Yugoslav-Middle Eastern relations was decisive for the country’s foreign policy and its internal situation, as Yugoslavia never again played a significant role in the Arab world.

Heal and Serve

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan can be seen as a laboratory for examining the Soviet construction of masculinity during the last decade of the USSR. Focusing on male Soviet military doctors as individuals, this article aims to present how these doctors constructed their virile presentation of self in a war situation and how they managed their position within the military community. Taking a pragmatic historical approach, the article considers the doctors through their interactions with both women and men, examining gendered practices such as “protecting weak people,” “asserting authority,” “expressing emotions (or not),” and “impressing others.” It offers a case study for the analysis of one of the many forms of Soviet military masculinity under late socialism and its place in Soviet society.

The Role of Small Powers in Great Power Politics: A Case Study of Pakistan

The role of small powers in competition between great powers is crucial. To achieve worldwide strategic goals and increase their political and military might great powers form alliances and exploit smaller states for their strategic objectives. On the other hand, small states enter in alliance with great powers to receive military aid and secure its strategic goals. In this context, this research paper explains role of Pakistan in great power competition. Pakistan is a significant geostrategic location and has been central to this competition. Historically, Pakistan was US ally during cold war era and remained part of its subsequent defense organizations. Besides, Pakistan remained pivotal in helping US to achieve her strategic goals during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Indian factor and apprehension of communist threats compelled the country to enter US alliance and to receive defense support. Currently, the growing US-China strategic competition has pushed Pakistan towards a difficult position. The benefits received from Chinese side through CPEC are way more than the US has ever given to Pakistan. Though Pakistan has clarified to be neutral