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Dissertation Is Even Harder

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Dissertation Is Even Harder DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE Master’s Degree in International Relations - Global Studies Chair in History of International Relations Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion Between Military Strategies and the Steered Political Perception SUPERVISOR CANDIDATE Prof. Maria Elena Cavallaro Maria Flavia Appetecchia 632422 COSUPERVISOR Prof. Igor Pellicciari ACADEMIC YEAR 2017/2018 A mio padre, in memoriam Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to convey my sincere thanks to my advisor Prof. Maria Elena Cavallaro for the continuous support to my thesis and related research, for having motivated me to deeply dig into the topic, which I have been interested in since the middle school, prompting me to exploit my knowledge of Russian language. My deepest thought and thanks go to my father. Not having been accompanied by his presence during these two years of the master’s degree has revealed to be the most hurting experience. Not having him for my dissertation is even harder. But I strain to convince myself that material distance does not mean much if I concentrate on feeling him still close to me. I am sure he is proud and would weep with joy, as he did almost three years ago when he put the laurel wreath on my head. So, daddy, this thesis is for you. Miss you so much. My mother deserves a profound thank you, for having encouraged me to hold my head up again and for having given me the courage to get on with my university exams, without surrounding to sorrow. She has been the boost to resume the concentration when my mind wandered. She has been able to convince me that I am still on time to plan a bright future. And then, there is my grandmother. The strongest person I ever met. She has always been near me, when I was desperate and hopeless, when I just needed some words of comfort. She has known how to convince me that there is always a way out and I am very grateful to her. Last, but not least, I would like to dedicate few lines to Alessandro. Probably he is the one who has seen my worst moments. He never backed off and has been the most important presence, without which I would have not been capable of smiling again. He made me laugh when I only wanted to cry loud, he calmed down my anxieties when I felt unable to see past the present. He made me felt his believing in me and emboldened me to do the same. Probably, without him I would get bogged down, lacking in willpower. I have to thank him for his persevering support, for his fond embraces and reproaches, when necessary. This thesis is even the outcome of his gentle involvement in my daily life. Therefore, thanks. Table of contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1. The Path Towards the Soviet Invasion in Afghanistan: USSR - US bilateral relations in the 1970s ..................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 A brief introduction. In pursuit of Détente: the mid-to-late 1960s ........................................ 7 1.2 The Détente ............................................................................................................................ 7 1.3 The Brezhnev Doctrine: a mere justification? ..................................................................... 20 1.4 Turnover in the geopolitical objectives: a focus on Soviet foreign policy .......................... 27 1.4.1 Going into detail: Soviet foreign policy towards Africa ............................................... 31 1.4.2 Soviet relations with the Middle East ............................................................................ 33 1.4.3 A glance at Soviet Union in South Asia ........................................................................ 36 1.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 2. The Liaison Between USSR and Afghanistan ....................................................... 39 2.1 Afghan instability: between DRA and guerrillas ................................................................. 39 2.1.1 The naissance of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan .................................. 40 2.1.2 A first Afghan republican attempt ................................................................................. 43 2.1.3 The Afghan evolution into DRA ................................................................................... 45 2.2 The Afghan invasion, a conscious Soviet action? ............................................................... 48 2.2.1 “Operation Štorm-333”: a KGB-coordinated affair ...................................................... 56 2.3 The Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) .................................................................................. 59 2.3.1 The “Cyclone Operation”: the US counteroffensive ..................................................... 65 2.4 The failure of the Soviet strategy: reasons and mistakes ..................................................... 68 2.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 3. Soviet Political Propaganda upon the Afghan Invasion ....................................... 72 3.1 USSR domestic public awareness: the Soviet censorship between 1979 and 1985 ............ 72 3.1.1 From the denial to the admission of Soviet presence in Afghanistan ........................... 74 3.1.2 A thematic propagandistic turnabout under Andropov ................................................. 80 i 3.1.3 1984: the first disclosure of Soviet costs ....................................................................... 84 3.2 “Wind of change” in the national Soviet propaganda .......................................................... 85 3.2.1 Glasnost in Soviet propagandistic media ...................................................................... 86 3.2.2 A more transparent coverage of the Afghan case .......................................................... 88 3.3 The Soviet propaganda: a means to widen the consensus in Afghanistan ........................... 94 3.4 Reasons why propaganda was fundamental for Soviet intervention ................................... 98 3.4.1 Propaganda: a means of political stability ..................................................................... 99 3.4.2 Propaganda: an additional military strategy ................................................................ 101 3.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 4. The Other Side of the Soviet-Afghan Informative War ..................................... 104 4.1 Foreign political perception of the Soviet intervention ..................................................... 104 4.1.1 Mujahidin’s anti-Soviet propaganda ........................................................................... 107 4.1.2 American coverage of anti-Soviet propaganda ........................................................... 112 4.2 Modern political perception of the Soviet-Afghan War .................................................... 116 4.3 Afghanistan, “graveyard of Empires?” .............................................................................. 120 4.3.1 Concrete post-Afghan war aftermaths in the USSR .................................................... 121 4.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 125 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 126 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 130 Books ....................................................................................................................................... 130 Chapters in book ...................................................................................................................... 133 Encyclopaedic sources ............................................................................................................. 135 Scientific articles ...................................................................................................................... 136 Press and Media ....................................................................................................................... 140 Reports ..................................................................................................................................... 143 ii Abstract The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a crucial event in the late seventies, giving the input for a ten-year war. The peculiarity of the struggle, that constitutes the main core of this dissertation, concerns the employment and the exploitation of propaganda as an effective military strategy, mainly by the Soviet Union. The focus will be on the informative clash as a complementary element of the military battles. The USSR, through veiled messages, leaflets and “dis-informative” articles, aimed at increasing its political authority worldwide, steering the construction
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