The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: A Study in the Use of Force in Soviet Foreign Policy

"The work which follows will analyze the Soviet use of force in Afghanistan. More specifically, this work — subject to the limitations imposed by the available, unclassified sources — will attempt to answer the following questions: 1. What were the Soviet motives for invading Afghanistan? What role was played by conditions internal to Afghanistan, and what role was played by exogenous factors, such as Soviet-U.S. relations? 2. How was the invasion conducted and how have subsequent military operations been prosecuted? What is the relationship between the methods chosen and the Soviet motives for the initial invasion? 3. How does the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan fit the commonly accepted propositions that describe how and under what conditions the Soviets have previously used force in support of their foreign policy? How can one explain the aspects of this case that do not fit the theoretical propositions? 4. What conclusions may be drawn from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan regarding changing trends in Soviet foreign policy? The first three chapters will analyze Russian/Soviet-Afghan relations up to 1978. Chapters 4 and 5 will cover Afghanistan under the Marxist regime of the People’s Democratic Party and the start of the insurgency there. Chapter 6 will describe in detail the Soviet invasion and subsequent Soviet policy up to June 1980. Chapters 7 and 8 will analyze Soviet motives for the invasion and Chapter 9 will look at Soviet policy towards Afghanistan from June 1980 to December 1984." (from the Introduction)