Operational And Strategic Lessons Of The War In Afghanistan, 1979-1990
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This analysis focuses on the purely operational and strategic lessons of the war. It insists that lessons of these kinds were present and that they offer significant insights both for such wars in general and for the course of Soviet military developments in the 1980s and 1990s. These lessons also offer important clues concerning the reforms required in order to preserve democratic civilian control over the military. It should also alert analysts everywhere as to the nature of local wars in the Third World in the 1990s, a phenomenon that shows little sign of abating. Though in many ways like all wars, this war was unique; it was not merely a series of random tactical exercises that were ultimately futile. Rather, like all wars, it shows us something of the shape of our present and future, if we are only insightful enough to understand it correctly.
Dr Stephen J. Blank
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Operational And Strategic Lessons Of The War In Afghanistan, 1979-1990 - Dr Stephen J. Blank
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Text originally published in 2000 under the same title.
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AFGHANISTAN AND BEYOND: REFLECTIONS ON THE FUTURE OF WARFARE
by
Stephen J. Blank
FOREWORD
This report provides an historical analysis of lessons from one of the most important wars of the 1980s, the war in Afghanistan. After reading this study, you will better understand the nature of operations other than war
in multiethnic states. Many fear that these wars will set the paradigm for wars in the 1990s and will exert pressure on U.S. forces to conduct peacekeeping, peace-enforcement and humanitarian assistance operations in especially dangerous areas. Yugoslavia and Somalia, each in their own way, bear out the ubiquity of these wars and the pressures on the United States to act.
This report will, of course, contribute to the body of material dealing with the war in Afghanistan. More importantly, it increases understanding of future wars, particularly these types of wars, so that policymakers and analysts alike will better appreciate their military and political aspects. In turn, we may devise mechanisms either to forestall and avert them, or to bring them to the speediest possible conclusion. Alternatively, should those mechanisms fail and troops have to be committed, this and future analyses will enable commanders to have a better grasp of the nature of the war they will fight. In either case, understanding the war and the theater should facilitate a solution more in keeping with U.S. interests and values.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 5
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR 6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7
AFGHANISTAN AND BEYOND: — REFLECTIONS ON THE FUTURE OF WARFARE 8
The Initial Period of the Afghan War and Low-Intensity Conflict. 8
Soviet Failure and the Lessons of That War. 13
Lessons for the Wars of the 1990s. 18
Operational and Strategic Lessons for the U.S. Forces. 20
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 29
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR
STEPHEN J. BLANK has been an Associate Professor of Russian/Soviet Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute since 1989. Prior to this appointment Dr. Blank was Associate Professor for Soviet Studies at the Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research, and Education of Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base. Dr. Blank’s M.A. and Ph.D. are in Russian history from the University of Chicago. He has published numerous articles on Soviet military and foreign policies, notably in the Third World, and is the author of a forthcoming study of the Soviet Commissariat of Nationalities and editor of books on Soviet foreign policies in Latin American and