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The CIA’s Strategic Thinking in Afghanistan: 1979 to 2021
Afghanistan has been a priority area for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since the 1950s as a result of the growing influence of the two adversaries, the...
This is evidenced by the declassified document NIE 53-54, which identifies Afghanistan as “highly vulnerable to Soviet pressures” territory, thus important to monitor.
- Michael Lambert
- modern diplomacy
The interest of the U.S. intelligence community was reinforced in 1973, when the Republic of Afghanistan was proclaimed after Mohammed Daoud Khan deposed his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, in a…
Daoud’s endeavors to modernize the country came with the assistance of the Soviet Union and the…