Assessment of Politico-Military Lessons Learned from the Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan

Abstract

Assesses the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and nearly 10 year occupation for lessons learned. Examines the historical Soviet involvement in Afghanistan and illustrates the importance of focused international relationships. Shows how U.S. diplomatic failure in Afghanistan created a void that opened the door Russians. Afghanistan demonstrates that superpower military intervention in the Third World may only offer temporary solutions and cannot ensure the achievement of political objectives. Five critical lessons learned are enumerated. Afghanistan serves as an example that the United States must clearly define regional foreign policy objectives for the protection of its long term interests.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA217526

Entities

People

  • Daniel E. Owens Jr.

Organizations

  • Air War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Central America
  • Department Of State
  • Economic Systems
  • Foreign Policy
  • Foreign Relations
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Strategic Security Studies