The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan

by Amin Saikal, William Maley

Overview

Nearly ten years of bloodshed and political turmoil have followed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Soviet occupation not only proved a major trauma for the people of Afghanistan; invasion ended at a stroke the growth in superpower detente that had characterized the late 1970s; and back home in the Soviet Union the effects of escalating military costs and over 13,000 young military casualties have been felt at every level of society. The decision to withdraw combat forces under the provisions of the Geneva Accords of April 1988 is one of the most dramatic developments in the international system since the end of the Second World War. Unable to overcome fierce insurgent Mujahideen resistance, the new Soviet leadership under General Secretary Gorbachev has opted to cut its military losses under a veil of UN diplomacy. The effects of this decision will be felt not only in Afghanistan but in the Soviet Union, in Southeast Asia, and in the wider world. This book is designed to explore the background to the decision to withdraw and its broader implications. The authors, all established specialists, examine the Geneva Accords; the future for post-withdrawal Afghanistan; and the impact of withdrawal on regional states, Soviet foreign and domestic policies, the Soviet armed forces, Sino-Soviet relations, and world politics. They write from diverse disciplinary perspectives while bringing together a shared sensitivity to the issues that complicate the Afghan question.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521375771
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/06/1989
Pages:	188
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.83(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Introduction Amin Saikal and William Maley; 2. The Geneva Accords of April 1988 William Maley; 3. Post-withdrawal Afghanistan: light at the end of the tunnel Louis Dupree; 4. The regional politics of the Afghan crisis Amin Saikal; 5. The Afghan conflict and soviet domestic politics T. H. Rigby; 6. The soviet armed forces and the Afghan war Geoffrey Jukes; 7. Afghanistan and soviet alliances Robert F. Miller; 8. Afghanistan and Sino-soviet relations Leslie Holmes; 9. The Afghanistan 'settlement' and the future of world politics Richard A. Falk; 10. Conclusions: management of the Afghan crisis J. L. Richardson; List of contributors; Index.

Editorial Reviews

This volume of essays is the edited result of a conference at Australian National University and represents both a valuable contribution to the literature and a good companion to Edward R. Girardet's Afghanistan--The Soviet War ( LJ 12/1/85). Maley's criticism of the Geneva Accords dispels any impression that their signing will bring peace. Saikel's ``scenario'' for Soviet efforts to ``Afghanise'' the war seems tragically confirmed. The West's preeminent expert on the country, the late Louis Dupree, explains the great obstacles facing the complex Mujahideen resistance in creating a successor regime. Unfortunately, this volume adds little to help understand Soviet decision making or Soviet Central Asia. Recommended for academic libraries with large collections in international relations.-- Zachary T. Irwin, Behrend Coll., Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie

Library Journal

"...this book...serves very well as a guide to where things stood at the time of the Geneva accords of 1988 and the beginning of the withdrawal of Soviet troops." Foreign Affairs

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