The Afghanistan wars
Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Note on References -- Introduction -- 1: The Road to War -- THE AFGHAN CONTEXT -- Afghanistan as a Territorial Unit -- The Peoples of Afghanistan -- The Afghan State -- State and Society -- The Decline of State Legitimacy: 1964-1978 -- THE SOVIET CONTEXT -- The Soviet System -- Soviet Relations with Afghanistan -- The Soviet Cultivation of Afghan Communists -- The Sclerotic Soviet Elite -- FROM COUP TO INVASION -- The April 1978 Coup -- Communist Factionalism and Policy Failures -- The Soviet View of Afghan Developments -- The Amin Period -- The Soviet Invasion -- 2: Soviet Strategy, Tactics, and Dilemmas -- THE SOVIET ARMED FORCES -- Some History -- The Structure and Functioning of the Soviet Armed Forces -- SOVIET STRATEGY -- Strategic Objectives -- SOVIET TACTICS -- Infantry -- Armour -- Tactical Airpower -- Spetsnaz Forces and Sabotage -- Scorched Earth -- Mine Warfare -- Intelligence and Communications -- Operational Relations with the Afghan Army -- SOVIET DILEMMAS -- 3: The Development of Afghan Resistance -- POPULAR MOBILIZATION IN AFGHANISTAN -- Islam as a Basis of Resistance -- Grassroots Resistance and Tribal Warfare -- Resistance Political Parties -- Regional Commanders -- Urban Resistance Activities -- THE ROLE OF PAKISTAN -- Longer-Term Pakistani Interests -- The Position of General Zia -- Pakistan as Host of Afghan Refugees -- Pakistan as a Conduit of External Aid: The Role of ISI -- Pakistani Manipulation and the Afghan Resistance -- INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE AFGHAN RESISTANCE -- The UN Response to the Soviet Invasion -- Western Reactions to the Invasion -- Arab Reactions to the Invasion -- Western Non-Governmental Organizations -- 4: The Karmal Period, 1979-1986 -- PATTERNS OF WAR -- Eastern and Southern Afghanistan -- Northern Afghanistan -- Western Afghanistan -- The Panjsher Valley.