Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: Causes and Future Options.

Abstract

This document examines six causative factors leading up to the Soviet decision to invade Afghanistan. It disagrees with the commonly held view that the Soviets moved into Afghanistan primarily to improve their strategic position vis-a-vis the United States in the Persian Gulf area. Instead it is asserted that the principle reasons for the invasion were predicated on: The tenets of the Brezhnev Doctrine; growing instability on the Soviet Southern border; and the perception that the move was a low-risk operation. The paper also examines future Soviet courses of action to meet their objectives and concludes that the present force level/strategy will continue for the forseeable future.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1986
Accession Number
ADA178357

Entities

People

  • David C. Gregory

Organizations

  • Air War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Asia
  • Central Asia
  • Department Of State
  • Doctrine
  • Eastern Europe
  • Europe
  • Governments
  • National Governments
  • Persian Gulf
  • Security
  • South Asia
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • Ussr
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Strategic Security Studies