The Fateful Pebble

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The Fateful Pebble

Author : Anthony Arnold
Publisher : Presidio Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Fateful Pebble by : Anthony Arnold

Download or read book The Fateful Pebble written by Anthony Arnold and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Fateful Pebble explores the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan as a catalyst that helped trigger the first extraordinary political event of the 20th century, the self-generated collapse of the Soviet empire. At the dawn of the 1980s decade, the Soviet military machine seemed invincible and Moscow's expansionist designs unswervable. Intermediate-range SS-20 missiles were intimidating Western Europe, the Soviet ICBM force was at least the equal of America's, and, with the invasion of Afghanistan at the end of 1979, the Kremlin showed its willingness to project its power directly into a neighboring nonaligned country. But nearly ten years later, the last Soviet army regular units withdrew into Central Asia without ever having conquered the elusive Afghan resistance fighters who had spontaneously risen up against them. Less than three years after that retreat, the Soviet Union itself had ceased to exist. The early chapters provide unique perceptions of Russian and Afghan psychology, a historical view of how military defeat had led to earlier Russian domestic upheavals, and a description of how the Communist Party apparat, the Soviet military establishment, and the KGB had successfully defended Moscow's empire in the past. The details of the consecutive failure of each of these institutions to solve Moscow's "Afghanistan problem" show how the authority of each was seriously undermined at home and abroad. Each, as it lost its prestige with the public and its own middle-grade officers. Internally splintered, no longer mutually supportive, and resting on an eroding foundation of war-weakened public confidence, eventually the three institutions collapsed, together with the regime they supported.The book illustrates how the KGB in particular suffered defeat because it came to believe its own disinformation. In the end, the implosion of the vast false-front "Potemkin village" that had been the Soviet Union can be ascribed in large part to the cruel truths of the Afghan war.

Afghanistan's Violent Decades

Author : Stanley B. Sprague
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 1476691851
Total Pages : 286 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (766 download)

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Book Synopsis Afghanistan's Violent Decades by : Stanley B. Sprague

Download or read book Afghanistan's Violent Decades written by Stanley B. Sprague and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2024-10-24 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the key political and military events in Afghanistan from 1978 to August 2021. It covers the Afghan-Soviet war and how that war was followed by an Afghan Civil War that made the country receptive to the rise of the Afghan Taliban. It explains how the Taliban secured control of Afghanistan's government, and permitted Osama bin Laden to reside in the country while he secretly planned an attack on the American mainland. It also covers why Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001, flew hijacked airliners into New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It describes how American and NATO forces responded by invading Afghanistan to destroy al-Qaeda and to overthrow the Taliban government. The 20-year Afghan-NATO war which followed would lead to American troops suffering 2,488 dead and 20,722 wounded. This book is one of the first to cover this long war written after the war ended in August 2021, giving it a new perspective. It offers an even-handed coverage of the war based on Taliban, American, and British sources.

Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?: Understanding Historical Change

Author : Robert Strayer
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1315503964
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (155 download)

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Book Synopsis Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?: Understanding Historical Change by : Robert Strayer

Download or read book Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?: Understanding Historical Change written by Robert Strayer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking the Soviet collapse - the most cataclysmic event of the recent past - as a case study, this text engages students in the exercise of historical analysis, interpretation and explanation. In exploring the question posed by the title, the author introduces and applies such organizing concepts as great power conflict, imperial decline, revolution, ethnic conflict, colonialism, economic development, totalitarian ideology, and transition to democracy in a most accessible way. Questions and controversies, and extracts from documentary and literary sources, anchor the text at key points. This book is intended for use in history and political science courses on the Soviet Union or more generally on the 20th century.

The Russian Military Resurgence

Author : René De La Pedraja
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 1476634491
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (766 download)

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Book Synopsis The Russian Military Resurgence by : René De La Pedraja

Download or read book The Russian Military Resurgence written by René De La Pedraja and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-11-21 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transition from the Soviet to the post-1991 Russian military is a fascinating story of decline and reinvention. The Soviet army suffered a slow demise, dissolving in 2000 and only gradually reforming based on radically different principles. The First Chechnya War (1994-1996) was the lowest point for the Soviet military but the Second Chechnya War (1999-2004) saw the initial stirrings of the new Russian army. The Five Day War with Georgia in August 2008 was its first major success and marked Russia's return to world power status. Lively accounts and maps describe the actions of these wars, along with the Crimea operation of 2014, the separatist struggles in eastern Ukraine and the ongoing Russian intervention in Syria.

From Washington to Moscow

Author : Louis Sell
Publisher : Duke University Press
ISBN 13 : 0822374005
Total Pages : 430 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (223 download)

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Book Synopsis From Washington to Moscow by : Louis Sell

Download or read book From Washington to Moscow written by Louis Sell and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-04 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the United States and the Soviet Union signed the first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks accords in 1972 it was generally seen as the point at which the USSR achieved parity with the United States. Less than twenty years later the Soviet Union had collapsed, confounding experts who never expected it to happen during their lifetimes. In From Washington to Moscow veteran US Foreign Service officer Louis Sell traces the history of US–Soviet relations between 1972 and 1991 and explains why the Cold War came to an abrupt end. Drawing heavily on archival sources and memoirs—many in Russian—as well as his own experiences, Sell vividly describes events from the perspectives of American and Soviet participants. He attributes the USSR's fall not to one specific cause but to a combination of the Soviet system's inherent weaknesses, mistakes by Mikhail Gorbachev, and challenges by Ronald Reagan and other US leaders. He shows how the USSR's rapid and humiliating collapse and the inability of the West and Russia to find a way to cooperate respectfully and collegially helped set the foundation for Vladimir Putin’s rise.

The Collapse of Communism

Author : Lee Edwards
Publisher : Hoover Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 0817998160
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (179 download)

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Book Synopsis The Collapse of Communism by : Lee Edwards

Download or read book The Collapse of Communism written by Lee Edwards and published by Hoover Institution Press. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts continue to debate one of the most important political questions of the twentieth century—why did Communism collapse so suddenly? These essays suggest that a wide range of forces—political, economic, strategic, religious, add the indispensable role of the principled statesman and the brave dissident—brought about the collapse of communism.

Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan

Author : Ludwig W. Adamec
Publisher : Scarecrow Press
ISBN 13 : 0810878151
Total Pages : 667 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan by : Ludwig W. Adamec

Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan written by Ludwig W. Adamec and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 667 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new fourth edition has been substantially expanded because so much has taken place in such a short period of time. The most important changes, however, have been made to the dictionary section, with hundreds of added or substantially revised entries on important people, places, events, institutions, practices, ethnic and religious groups, political parties, and Islamist movements, as well as significant aspects of Afghanistan's politics, economy, society, and culture.

Afgantsy

Author : Rodric Braithwaite
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199322481
Total Pages : 448 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (993 download)

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Book Synopsis Afgantsy by : Rodric Braithwaite

Download or read book Afgantsy written by Rodric Braithwaite and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-11 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is well known: the expansionist Communists overwhelmed a poor country as a means of reaching a warm-water port on the Persian Gulf. Afghan mujahideen upset their plans, holding on with little more than natural fighting skills, until CIA agents came to the rescue with American arms. Humiliated in battle, the Soviets hastily retreated. It's a great story, writes Rodric Braithwaite. But it never happened. The Russian conscripts suffered badly from mismanagement and strategic errors, but they were never defeated on the battlefield, and withdrew in good order. In this brilliant, myth-busting account, Braithwaite - the former British ambassador to Moscow - challenges much of what we know about the Soviets in Afghanistan. He provides an inside look at this little-understood episode, using first-hand accounts and piercing analysis to show the war as it was fought and experienced by the Russians. The invasion, he writes, was a defensive response to a chaotic situation in the Soviets' immediate neighbor. They intended to establish a stable, friendly government, secure the major towns, and train the police and armed forces before making a rapid exit. But the mission escalated, as did casualties. In fact, the Soviet leadership decided to pull out a year before the first Stinger missile was used in combat. Braithwaite does not, of course, paint the occupation as a Russian triumph. To the contrary, he illustrates the searing effect of the brutal conflict on soldiers, their families, and the broader public, as returning veterans - the Afgansty of the title - struggled to regain their footing back home. A fine writer as well as an expert, Braithwaite carries readers through these complex and momentous events, capturing those violent and tragic days as no one has done before.

Religion and Politics in South Asia

Author : Ali Riaz
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000317994
Total Pages : 214 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (3 download)

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Book Synopsis Religion and Politics in South Asia by : Ali Riaz

Download or read book Religion and Politics in South Asia written by Ali Riaz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-29 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This revised edition of Religion and Politics in South Asia presents a comprehensive analysis of the interaction of religion and politics in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The book highlights that in recent decades, religion, religio-political parties, and religious rhetoric have become dominant features of the political scenes in all seven countries. By presenting each country's political system and the socio-economic environment within which the interactions of religion and politics are taking place, chapters explore various factors that affect both the lives of people in the region and global politics. Designed in an easy-to-follow structure, the book includes sections on the history and politics, major religions and religious composition of the population, legal and constitutional provisions regarding religion, religious freedom and the treatment of minorities, the political landscape, and religio-political parties and groups within the countries. In doing so, the book addresses concerns including the effects of religio-political interactions on political stability, human rights, and the implications for internal and external security situations. A timely contribution written by experts in their field, this book is a useful guide to religion and politics and will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students in South Asian politics, Asian politics, religion and politics, history, and international studies.

The Economic Sources of Social Order Development in Post-socialist Eastern Europe

Author : Richard Connolly
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0415672422
Total Pages : 287 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (156 download)

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Book Synopsis The Economic Sources of Social Order Development in Post-socialist Eastern Europe by : Richard Connolly

Download or read book The Economic Sources of Social Order Development in Post-socialist Eastern Europe written by Richard Connolly and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly twenty years after the collapse of socialism, the countries of post-socialist Eastern Europe have experienced divergent trajectories of political development. This book looks at why this is the case, based on the assumption that societies, or social orders, can be distinguished by the extent to which competitive tendencies contained within them – economic, political, social and cultural – are resolved according to open, rule-based processes. The book explores which economic conditions allow for increased levels of political competition, and it tests the hypothesis that the nature of a country’s ties with the international economy, and the level of competition within a country’s economic system, will shape the trajectory of political competition within that society. The book goes on to argue that after several decades of relative ‘bloc autarky’ during the socialist period, the ongoing process of reintegration with the international economy across the post-socialist region has resulted in distinct patterns of structural economic development, and that that these patterns are of crucial importance in explaining the variation in social order type across the post-socialist region. By offering a more precise analysis of the causal mechanisms that link economic and political competition, the book makes a useful contribution to research on the different patterns of political behaviour that have been observed across the post-socialist region since the collapse of the socialist regimes.

Taliban

Author : Ahmed Rashid
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 030016484X
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis Taliban by : Ahmed Rashid

Download or read book Taliban written by Ahmed Rashid and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-20 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban into sharp focus. He explains its rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the region, its role in oil and gas company decisions, and the effects of changing American attitudes toward the Taliban.

The Soviet–Afghan War

Author : Gregory Fremont-Barnes
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1472861817
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (728 download)

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Book Synopsis The Soviet–Afghan War by : Gregory Fremont-Barnes

Download or read book The Soviet–Afghan War written by Gregory Fremont-Barnes and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-02-15 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fully illustrated overview of the USSR's bloody conflict in Afghanistan and its long legacy. The Soviet invasion of its neighbour Afghanistan in December 1979 sparked a nine-year conflict until Soviet forces withdrew in 1988–89, dooming the communist Afghanistan government to defeat at the hands of the mujahideen, the Afghan popular resistance backed by the USA and other powers. Gregory Fremont-Barnes reveals how the Soviet invasion had enormous implications on the global stage; it prompted the US Senate to refuse to ratify the hard-won SALT II arms-limitation treaty, and the USA and 64 other countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics. For Afghanistan, the invasion served to prolong the interminable civil war that pitted central government against the regions and faction against faction. Updated and revised for the new edition, with full-colour maps and new images throughout, this succinct account explains the origins, events and consequences of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, shedding new light on the more recent history – and prospects – of that troubled country.

Political Islam, World Politics and Europe

Author : Bassam Tibi
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134072635
Total Pages : 334 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Political Islam, World Politics and Europe by : Bassam Tibi

Download or read book Political Islam, World Politics and Europe written by Bassam Tibi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is concerned with political Islam and in particular the global challenges posed by Islamists and Jihadists.

Islam, Nationalism and the West

Author : I. Malik
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 0230375391
Total Pages : 381 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (33 download)

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Book Synopsis Islam, Nationalism and the West by : I. Malik

Download or read book Islam, Nationalism and the West written by I. Malik and published by Springer. This book was released on 1999-06-03 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A growing interest in political Islam, also called Islamism, has assumed significant ideological and intellectual dimensions especially in recent years. Rather than viewing it as Islam versus the rest, or tradition against modernity, this volume, without overlooking the tensions, also acknowledges the mutualities. It centres on issues such as the Rushdie affair, conflictive pluralism in South Asia and its linkages with the crucial regional themes like the Kashmir dispute, Iranian revolution, civil war in Afghanicstan and Western public diplomacy.

The Afghanistan Wars

Author : William Maley
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1352011018
Total Pages : 394 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis The Afghanistan Wars by : William Maley

Download or read book The Afghanistan Wars written by William Maley and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A whole generation has grown up in Afghanistan knowing little but the ravages of war. The dramatic overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001 was simply one event in a series of interrelated struggles which have blighted ordinary people's lives over the last three decades, and which continue to interfere with reconciliation and reconstruction. This new edition of The Afghanistan Wars provides a meticulously-documented history of these successive waves of conflict. From the roots of Afghanistan's slide into disorder in the late 1970s to the challenges faced by Afghan leaders following the substantial withdrawal of international forces in 2014, it explores military and diplomatic history while also offering valuable insight on humanitarian action, gender, medical and cultural themes. Thoroughly revised in the light of the latest research, the third edition also features a new final chapter which examines recent developments in Afghanistan, bringing the story up to the present day and mounting a strong case for continuing support for this troubled country. New to this Edition: - A final chapter on the recent developments in Afghanistan up to the present day - Revised to take into account the considerable amount of new material published on this topic since 2009 - Refreshed and updated throughout

War Termination as a Civil-Military Bargain

Author : Shawn T. Cochran
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1137527978
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (375 download)

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Book Synopsis War Termination as a Civil-Military Bargain by : Shawn T. Cochran

Download or read book War Termination as a Civil-Military Bargain written by Shawn T. Cochran and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-01-26 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: War termination reflects a civil-military bargain and affects relevant decisions made by political leaders. For the leader embroiled in protracted war, this risk dictates whether he or she will commit more resources to the fight or else cut the state's losses and get out.

Russia in the Twentieth Century

Author : David R. Marples
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317862287
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (178 download)

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Book Synopsis Russia in the Twentieth Century by : David R. Marples

Download or read book Russia in the Twentieth Century written by David R. Marples and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of Russia, as the natural successor to the Soviet Union, is of crucial importance to understanding why communism ultimately lost out to Western democracy and the free market system. David Marples presents a balanced overview of 20th century Russian history and shows that although contemporary Russia has retained many of the practices and memories of the Soviet period, it is not about to revert back to the Soviet example.