UDC

94(47).084.9+94(73).092:327

Authors

Taisiya V. Rabush
Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design; ul. Bol’shaya Morskaya 18, St. Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation; e-mail: taisarabush@mail.ru

Abstract

The author examines the role of the Soviet Union and the United States in the diplomatic settlement of the armed conflict in Afghanistan (1979–1989), as well as their interaction and confrontation over this issue. Employing the chronological method, the author looks at how throughout the 1980s the Soviet leadership changed their approaches to the peaceful settlement of this conflict and what practical steps they took in this direction. Further, the official stand of Washington on the diplomatic solution to the armed conflict in Afghanistan is analysed here, again using the chronological approach. In addition, the paper provides insights into the position of the Afghan government and their efforts throughout the 1980s to settle the conflict peacefully. Moreover, the article highlights the work of the UN as a mediator and the role of Western European countries in resolving the armed conflict in Afghanistan (their peace initiatives are considered). The author concludes by pointing out that the greatest contribution to the conflict’s settlement was made by the Soviet Union, the Afghan government and the UN, while the United States were not interested in its early resolution and withdrawal of Soviet troops. Nevertheless, the United States, trying to stall the process, made extensive use of diplomatic solutions to the conflict for propaganda purposes.

Keywords

Afghanistan, armed conflict in Afghanistan, Afghan problem, Soviet–American relations, diplomatic settlement

References

1. Cordovez D., Harrison S.S. Out of Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet Withdrawal. New York, 1995. 450 p. 
2. Lyakhovskiy A.A. Tragediya i doblest’ Afgana [The Tragedy and Valour of the Soviet–Afghan War]. Moscow, 1995. 650 p. 
3. Akhromeev S.F., Kornienko G.M. Glazami marshala i diplomata: kriticheskiy vzglyad na vneshnyuyu politiku SSSR do i posle 1985 g. [Through the Eyes of a Marshal and Diplomat: A Critical View of the Foreign Policy of the USSR Before and After 1985]. Moscow, 1992. 320 p. 
4. Kryuchkov V.A. Lichnoe delo. Tri dnya i vsya zhizn’ [Personal File. Three Days and the Entire Life]. Moscow, 2001. 492 p. 
5. Slinkin M.F. Afganistan. Stranitsy istorii (80–90-e gg. XX v.) [Afghanistan. Pages of History (1980s – 1990s)]. Available at: http://www.knyazev.org/biblio/Slinkin%20M.F.%20Afghanistan.%20Stranicy.pdf (accessed 14 January 2017). 
6. Teplinskiy L.B. SSSR i Afganistan, 1919–1981 [The USSR and Afghanistan, 1919–1981]. Moscow, 1982. 294 p. 
7. Hurewitz J.G. The Middle East: A Year of Turmoil. Foreign Affairs, 1980, vol. 60, no 3, pp. 540–577. 
8. Dobrynin A.F. Sugubo doveritel’no: Posol v Vashingtone pri shesti prezidentakh SShA (1962–1986 gg.) [Confidential: Ambassador in Washington Under Six US Presidents (1962–1986)]. Moscow, 1996. 688 p. 
9. Hammond T.T. Red Flag over Afghanistan: The Communist Coup, the Soviet Invasion, and the Consequences. Boulder, 1984. 261 p. 
10. Allan P., Klay D. Afganskiy kapkan. Pravda o sovetskom vtorzhenii [The Afghan Trap. Truth About the Soviet Invasion]. Moscow, 1999. 448 p. 
11. Arunova M.R. Afganskaya politika SShA v 1945–1999 gg. (Kratkiy ocherk) [The United States’ Policy on Afghanistan in 1945–1999 (Short Essay)]. Moscow, 2000. 128 p. 
12. Zvyagel’skaya I.D. “Konfliktnaya politika” SShA na Blizhnem i Srednem Vostoke (seredina 70-kh – vtoraya polovina 80-kh gg.) [The United Statesʼ “Conflict Policy” in the Middle East (Mid-1970s – Second Half of the 1980s)]. Moscow, 1990. 189 p. 
13. Plastun V.N., Andrianov V.V. Nadzhibulla. Afganistan v tiskakh geopolitiki [Najibullah. Afghanistan in the Grip of Geopolitics]. Moscow, 1998. 240 p. 
14. Galster S.R. Rivalry and Reconciliation in Afghanistan: What Prospect for the Accords? Third World Q., 1988, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1505–1541. 
15. Reagan R. Otkrovenno govorya: izbrannye rechi [Frankly Speaking: Selected Speeches]. Moscow, 1990. 398 p.