Overview

Long before the 1979 Soviet invasion, the United States was closely concerned with Afghanistan. For much of the twentieth century, American diplomats, policy makers, businesspeople, and experts took part in the Afghan struggle to modernize, delivered vital aid, and involved themselves in Kabul's conflicts with its neighbors. For their own part, many Afghans embraced the potential benefits of political and commercial ties with the United States. Yet these relationships ultimately helped make the country a Cold War battleground. Robert B. Rakove sheds new light on the little-known and often surprising history of U.S. engagement in Afghanistan from the 1920s to the Soviet invasion, tracing its evolution and exploring its lasting consequences. Days of Opportunity chronicles the battle for influence in Kabul, as Americans contended with vigorous communist bloc competition and the independent ambitions of successive Afghan governments. Rakove examines the phases of peaceful Cold War competition, including development assistance, cultural diplomacy, and disaster relief. He demonstrates that Americans feared the ""loss"" of Afghanistan to Soviet influence-and were never simply bystanders, playing pivotal roles in the country's political life. The ensuing collision of U.S., Soviet, and Afghan ambitions transformed the country-and ultimately led it, and the world, toward calamity. Harnessing extensive research in U.S. and international archives, Days of Opportunity unveils the remarkable and tragic history of American involvement in Afghanistan.

Full Product Details

Author:   Robert Rakove
Publisher:   Columbia University Press
Imprint:   Columbia University Press
ISBN:  

9780231210454

ISBN 10:   0231210450
Pages:   488
Publication Date:   08 August 2023
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Notes for the Reader Introduction: “A Day of Opportunity” 1. A Game of Hide-and-Seek: The Afghan Pursuit of Diplomatic Relations, 1921–1938 2. “We Have a Rare Opportunity”: U.S.-Afghan Relations Amid the World Crisis, 1938–1945 3. Preeminence and Peril: The American Influx and the Coming of the Afghan Cold War, 1945–1952 4. “We Might Be Willing to Take a Chance”: The Choice to Contest Afghanistan, 1953–1956 5. Anxious Coexistence: The Aid Contest, 1956–1959 6. The Crisis Era, 1959–1963 7. Reform and Retrenchment, 1963–1968 8. The Fall of the Monarchy, 1968–1973 9. Return to Engagement, 1973–1976 10. The End of Diplomacy, 1977–1979 Conclusion: “Into the Jaws of Catastrophe” Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Notes List of Archives Index

Reviews

In Days of Opportunity, Rob Rakove uncovers a largely overlooked history: that of US-Afghanistan relations across the twentieth century. Through expert storytelling and meticulous archival research, he details the two countries’ long, promising yet frustrating relationship during the decades preceding the Soviet invasion. Rakove gives Afghanistan the attention it deserves as a critical player in twentieth-century international politics. -- Elisabeth Leake, author of <i>Afghan Crucible The Soviet Invasion and the Making of Modern Afghanistan</i> This outstanding study offers the most comprehensive exposition and analysis to date of the Afghan-American relationship through the end of the 1970s. Based on extensive archival research, it provides essential context for anyone who seeks to understand the complex historical roots of America's failures in Afghanistan. -- Robert McMahon, author of <i>Dean Acheson and the Creation of an American World Order</i>

Through expansive multinational archival research, Robert B. Rakove weaves together local, national, and international threads that shaped the history of modern Afghanistan and its engagement with the world. Days of Opportunity is a compelling account of how the nation came to be embroiled in U.S.-Soviet Cold War conflict and the terrible costs to the Afghan people. -- Mary L. Dudziak, author of <i>War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences</i> In a narrative built on rich detail about individual diplomatic actors and their alliances, rivalries, and networks, Rakove offers tremendous insight on the extent, complexities, and contingencies of the Afghan-American bilateral relationship during the interwar and Cold War eras. -- Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, author of <i>Connecting Histories in Afghanistan</i> In Days of Opportunity, Rakove uncovers the largely overlooked history of U.S.-Afghanistan relations across the twentieth century. Through expert storytelling and meticulous archival research, he details the two countries’ long, promising, yet frustrating relationship during the decades preceding the Soviet invasion. Rakove gives Afghanistan the attention it deserves as a critical player in twentieth-century international politics. -- Elisabeth Leake, author of <i>Afghan Crucible: The Soviet Invasion and the Making of Modern Afghanistan</i> This outstanding study offers the most comprehensive exposition and analysis to date of the Afghan-American relationship through the end of the 1970s. Based on extensive archival research, it provides essential context for anyone who seeks to understand the complex historical roots of America's failures in Afghanistan. -- Robert McMahon, author of <i>Dean Acheson and the Creation of an American World Order</i> The definitive account of US-Afghan relations prior to 1979...Days of Opportunity should be essential reading for historians of Afghanistan, historians of the Cold War, and readers interested in how the United States may exert influence in settings where it is a runner-up to rival powers. -- Timothy Nunan * Diplomatic History *

In Days of Opportunity, Rob Rakove uncovers a largely overlooked history: that of US-Afghanistan relations across the twentieth century. Through expert storytelling and meticulous archival research, he details the two countries’ long, promising yet frustrating relationship during the decades preceding the Soviet invasion. Rakove gives Afghanistan the attention it deserves as a critical player in twentieth-century international politics. -- Elisabeth Leake, author of <i>Afghan Crucible The Soviet Invasion and the Making of Modern Afghanistan</i> This outstanding study offers the most comprehensive exposition and analysis to date of the Afghan-American relationship through the end of the 1970s. Based on extensive archival research, it provides essential context for anyone who seeks to understand the complex historical roots of America's failures in Afghanistan. -- Robert McMahon, author of <i>Dean Acheson and the Creation of an American World Order</i> In a narrative built by rich data related to individual diplomatic actors, their alliances, rivalries, and networks, Rakove offers tremendous detail on the extent, complexities and contingencies of the Afghan-American bilateral relationship during the inter-World War and Cold War eras. -- Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, author of <i>Connecting Histories in Afghanistan</i> Through expansive multinational archival research, Robert Rakove weaves together local, national, and international threads that shaped the history of modern Afghanistan and its engagement with the world. Days of Opportunity is a compelling account of how the nation came to be embroiled in U.S./Soviet Cold War conflict, and the terrible costs to the Afghan people. -- Mary L. Dudziak, author of <i>War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences</i>

Author Information

Robert B. Rakove is a lecturer in international relations at Stanford University. He is the author of Kennedy, Johnson, and the Nonaligned World (2012).

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