USSR INTERESTS IN AFGHANISTAN: UNDERSTANDING THE BACKGROUND OF SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR OF 1979

The rivalry between USA and USSR, the ideological conflict of the communist and the capitalist, is considered as the highlight of the Cold war period. However, even before the rise of Capitalist USA against the Communist USSR, there was Imperialist Britain who stood against the expansionism of communist Russia, particularly in Central Asia. This was followed by the fall of Monarchy in Afghanistan and its invasion by USSR in 1978. This period of disturbance in Afghanistan can be held equally important to the era of Cold War. However, like any major conflict and war that takes place in this world has reasons behind it, this invasion was also not at all out of blue but was rather preceded by a chain of events. This paper is focused to understand the background and particularly those events that led to the decade long conflict in the region.