The importance of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan for relations between the USA and
the Soviet Union [8 marks]
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a key point in the souring of relations between the
USA and the Soviet Union. It marked the end to the period of détente in the 1970s,
therefore making relations between the two countries much more confrontational.
Brezhnev, the Soviet leader, believed the USA would tolerate the invasion as they had in
Czechoslovakia, however, President Carter retaliated that the invasion was the biggest
threat to world peace since the end of the Second World War. He created the Carter
Doctrine and expressed the USA’s disapproval of the Soviet’s actions through their boycott
of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, sending marines to protect oil routes in the Persian Gulf and
by stopping trade with the USSR.
Equally, the invasion of Afghanistan affected the Soviet Union, as the Moscow Olympics
were supposed to be their opportunity to display communist society to the world. The US
boycott, followed by sixty other Western countries, symbolised the abrupt end to the period
of détente and co-operation. The economic sanctions imposed on the Soviet Union by the
US also showed the end to their co-operation, leaving the Soviet’s economy severely
weakened as they had spent a lot of money on the war in Afghanistan.
Therefore, the invasion of Afghanistan was a significant point in the relations between the
Soviet Union and the USA and the Cold War.
the Soviet Union [8 marks]
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a key point in the souring of relations between the
USA and the Soviet Union. It marked the end to the period of détente in the 1970s,
therefore making relations between the two countries much more confrontational.
Brezhnev, the Soviet leader, believed the USA would tolerate the invasion as they had in
Czechoslovakia, however, President Carter retaliated that the invasion was the biggest
threat to world peace since the end of the Second World War. He created the Carter
Doctrine and expressed the USA’s disapproval of the Soviet’s actions through their boycott
of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, sending marines to protect oil routes in the Persian Gulf and
by stopping trade with the USSR.
Equally, the invasion of Afghanistan affected the Soviet Union, as the Moscow Olympics
were supposed to be their opportunity to display communist society to the world. The US
boycott, followed by sixty other Western countries, symbolised the abrupt end to the period
of détente and co-operation. The economic sanctions imposed on the Soviet Union by the
US also showed the end to their co-operation, leaving the Soviet’s economy severely
weakened as they had spent a lot of money on the war in Afghanistan.
Therefore, the invasion of Afghanistan was a significant point in the relations between the
Soviet Union and the USA and the Cold War.
