AFGHANISTAN REVISITED: A SPOT OF SUPERPOWER RIVALRY IN THE ERA OF THE COLD WAR

Abstract

Discourses on the conflicts, rivalries and confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War era have paid marginal attention to their activities in Afghanistan. The activities of these two superpowers in this central Asian country cannot be swept under the carpet, at least for the sake of history. What have been bandied about in popular literature are their transactions in such countries as Vietnam, Korea, Israel, Cuba, Italy, Congo and the Horn of Africa to the neglect of Afghanistan. With the use of available documented sources, fragmented and incoherent as they were, this paper examines the roles of the superpowers in Afghanistan in furthering their Cold War ideological, political and economic interests, as well as the global consequences of these roles. The method of analysis was descriptive. The study concludes that Afghanistan was a hotbed of superpower rivalry and a prelude to the jihadist terrorism around the world which, in turn, increased the security architecture and consciousness of some world nations.