Discuss the reasons for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the reasons for the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the reasons for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the reasons for the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989. Reasons may predate the timeframe but they must be clearly linked to the issue raised in the question. Candidates may offer equal coverage of the reasons for the Soviet invasion and the reasons for withdrawal, or they may emphasize their discussion of one of them. However, both aspects will be a feature of the response. Candidates may refer to the Soviet desire to cement the communist seizure of power in 1978, which had been endangered by Amin’s radicalism. Russians had a long-term fear of Afghan instability, which might unsettle the Islamic majority in neighbouring Russian states such as Turkmenistan. Candidates may discuss the impossibility of defeating the Mujahideen who sheltered in Pakistan and received massive amounts of Saudi and American aid, and may also discuss the context of Gorbachev’s revolutionary approach to international relations, which led him to détente with the West.

Candidates were required to offer a considered and balanced review of the reasons for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the reasons for the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989. A relatively popular question but some responses needed more discussion of events within Afghanistan and not just the changing relationship between the USA and the USSR.