Overview

The Soviet experience in Afghanistan provides a compelling perspective on the far-reaching hazards of military intervention. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev decided that a withdrawal from Afghanistan should occur as soon as possible. The Soviet Union's senior leadership had become aware that their strategy was unraveling, their operational and tactical methods were not working, and the sacrifices they were demanding from the Soviet people and military were unlikely to produce the forecasted results. Despite this state of affairs, operations in Afghanistan persisted and four more years passed before the Soviets finally withdrew their military forces. In No Miracles, Michael Fenzel explains why and how that happened, as viewed from the center of the Soviet state. From that perspective, three sources of failure stand out: poor civil-military relations, repeated and rapid turnover of Soviet leadership, and the perception that Soviet global prestige and influence were inexorably tied to the success of the Afghan mission. Fenzel enumerates the series of misperceptions and misjudgments that led to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, tracing the hazards of their military intervention and occupation. Ultimately, he offers a cautionary tale to nation states and policymakers considering military intervention and the use of force.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael R. Fenzel
Publisher:   Stanford University Press
Imprint:   Stanford University Press
ISBN:  

9780804798181

ISBN 10:   0804798184
Pages:   192
Publication Date:   05 December 2017
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Contents and Abstracts1Introduction chapter abstractThis book analyzes the decisions made by the Soviet Politburo, which contributed to the failure of the Afghan mission, in light of these three general issues. The focus is not on the bureaucratic character of the decision-making process itself, but rather on its results: the concrete decisions that defined the USSR's Afghan policy and strategy throughout the conflict. Utilizing the minutes of Politburo meetings from the period in question (1978–1989) as a basis for evaluating the interaction between key members of the Politburo over the issue of Afghanistan provides a critical perspective on how the Soviet-Afghan War began, how it was fought, and how and why it was ultimately lost. Analyzing the war by focusing on the interrelated issues of Soviet civil-military relations, leadership instability, and concerns about prestige sheds new light on how the Soviet Union failed. 2The Soviet Failure in Afghanistan chapter abstractThe primary responsibility for Soviet failure in Afghanistan begins at the center of power in Moscow. It is essential to take account of the decisions made by Soviet political leaders before and during the war. The decision to remain in Afghanistan after achieving the initial objective of regime change in 1979 was made not by Soviet military leaders or diplomats, but by Leonid Brezhnev. Continued occupation was reaffirmed by subsequent General Secretaries until Mikhail Gorbachev finally ordered a withdrawal in February 1989. There is no current explanation for this dimension of the Soviet failure. Instead, the focus has been on specific stages of the war, from initial intervention through the occupation and withdrawal. This book makes the argument that Soviet failure at the political level was attributable to a civil-military divide, the rapid succession of leadership, and a persistent fear of damaging the USSR's international reputation. 3Setting the stage: Evolution of Party-military Relations chapter abstractIn the decades before the invasion, the Soviets over-estimated their capacity to invade Afghanistan and create a pro-Soviet government with the ability to convert the population to socialism. There seemed to be no disagreement about these goals and strategies between Soviet party leaders and the military, nor about the need to create strategic buffers on the USSR's frontiers. Soviet civil-military relations had also benefitted from a generally stable transfer of power from one General Secretary to the next, as well as the international prestige of being a superpower inherited in the wake of World War II, reinforced by nuclear weapons and an extremely powerful conventional army. The invasion of Afghanistan occurred at a time when the USSR appeared to be at the height of its military power and international influence, and at a time of generally friction-free civil-military relations. 4Getting In: Leonid Brezhnev and the Soviet Decision to Invade Afghanistan chapter abstractIn a spasm of nineteenth century geopolitical determinism, the Western media mistakenly believed that the Soviet goal in Afghanistan was either to obtain access to a warm-water port or to dominate oil interests in the Persian Gulf. Moscow's aim was actually pure cold war—-prevent Afghanistan from providing a base for American meddling in the region, or from succumbing to an Iran-style Islamic revolution that might contaminate the USSR's own Muslim population and potentially destabilize parts of the USSR. The Soviets had provided substantial foreign aid and military assistance to Afghanistan over the years, which reinforced their belief that they simply could not afford to lose the country to an Islamist revolution abetted by Washington. The Soviets did not see an independent Afghanistan as dangerous; but they expected that it would remain a stable and friendly client state that they could protect from antagonistic ideological and political influences. 5No retreatNo miracles: Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko in Afghanistan (1980 – 1985) chapter abstractThe instability in the Soviet system from one General Secretary to the next in 1980–1985 prevented any political or diplomatic momentum from building. The first act of each new General Secretary was not going to be bringing home the troops and accepting defeat. After five years of conflict, the damage inflicted to the Soviets' international reputation far exceeded the destruction on the ground and casualties in their ranks. The Afghanistan campaign was also having a significantly negative impact on the prestige of the Soviet Army. The Red Army lost its image of invincibility. The image of defeat slowly imprinted itself into the Soviet public mind, including the minds of soldiers and officers who served in Afghanistan. Both domestically and internationally, and in advance of the start of Gorbachev's rule, the Soviet Union suffered far beyond what they expected or yet even fully understood. 6Gorbachev's Quest for ""Reluctant, Silent Agreement"" to Withdraw from Afghanistan (1985) chapter abstractWhen Gorbachev took over as General Secretary in March 1985, his agenda was to modernize the Soviet economy so that the communist regime might sustain itself and its international prestige. However, before the new General Secretary could do this, he had first to resolve the situation in Afghanistan. In the wake of Chernenko's death, Gorbachev sought to re-evaluate Moscow's Afghan commitment. Disturbed by the failure of the Soviet military to consolidate gains after five years of fighting and unmet promises, he was anxious to withdraw Soviet forces. Nevertheless, he preferred to move slowly on Afghanistan, and settle into office by first dealing with other less contentious issues. He was not yet, nor could he afford to be, the visionary and radical reformer he would later become, so initially he deviated very little from existing Afghan policy and strategy. 7Getting Out: Gorbachev and the Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan (1986-1989) chapter abstractMikhail Gorbachev recognized that a Soviet military victory in Afghanistan was a chimera, and began to explore an expeditious political exit from the war. On February 26 1986, in a dramatic presentation to the 27th Soviet Communist Party Congress, Gorbachev made his case for war termination. Afghanistan, he told them, was a ""bleeding wound."" The protracted conflict was damaging Soviet morale and political will. The Soviet military had forced resistance fighters onto the defensive, but the political struggle for Afghanistan was irretrievably compromised. The Afghan people and international opinion unequivocally supported a resistance that, although beleaguered, endured in the mountains and villages with grim determination. He declared his intention to immediately develop a detailed timeline for withdrawal and he made clear that the Afghan government must prepare for a future without direct Soviet military assistance. The central question addressed in this chapter is: what took him so long? 8Losing Afghanistan chapter abstractBy the end of the adventure in Afghanistan, after nearly ten years of fighting, the Soviets realized that they had accomplished very little. Like the British before them, the Soviets had moved confidently into Afghanistan in order to thwart challenges from developing on the borders of their empire. They never considered the consequences of a failed invasion, indeed the decisions they made governing the war reflected confidence to the point of hubris. What was more interesting still, intervention actually degraded the political, strategic and military status of Afghanistan from Moscow's perspective, or at the very least, failed to improve it. The Soviet war proved to be a political mistake, an economic affliction, and a strategic failure, which had dire consequences in the context of a USSR in the throes of systemic failure and faltering legitimacy."

Reviews

""No Miracles<\i> is a readable and valuable contribution to the existing body of work about the Soviet-Afghan War. It is a must and relevant read for international security practitioners and scholars because its conclusions have implications for civil-military relations and strategy for the current war in Afghanistan, which is a protracted stalemate."" -- Robert Cassidy * <i>The Russian Review</i> * ""Fenzel's analysis offers a valuable reassessment of earlier studies....This well-researched analysis is strongly recommended to students, researchers, and policy makers—military and civilian."" -- R.P. Peters * <i>CHOICE</i> *

No Miracles<\i> is a readable and valuable contribution to the existing body of work about the Soviet-Afghan War. It is a must and relevant read for international security practitioners and scholars because its conclusions have implications for civil-military relations and strategy for the current war in Afghanistan, which is a protracted stalemate. -- Robert Cassidy * <i>The Russian Review</i> * Fenzel's analysis offers a valuable reassessment of earlier studies....This well-researched analysis is strongly recommended to students, researchers, and policy makers-military and civilian. -- R.P. Peters * <i>CHOICE</i> *

Fenzel's analysis offers a valuable reassessment of earlier studies....This well-researched analysis is strongly recommended to students, researchers, and policy makers--military and civilian. --R.P. Peters CHOICE No Miracles is a readable and valuable contribution to the existing body of work about the Soviet-Afghan War. It is a must and relevant read for international security practitioners and scholars because its conclusions have implications for civil-military relations and strategy for the current war in Afghanistan, which is a protracted stalemate. --Robert Cassidy The Russian Review

Author Information

Michael R. Fenzel is an active duty Brigadier General in the U.S. Army, currently serving as a Deputy Commanding General in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He most recently served as a Senior Military Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and then Chief of Staff for the 82nd Airborne Division. He is the founder of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs (CENSA), a life-member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a former Director on the National Security Council Staff in the White House.

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