Afghanistan and the Vietnam Syndrome: Comparing US and Soviet Wars

Great powers often find that military adventurism to force their will in distant lands comes with the risk of spending excessive military, economic, and moral capital, leading to unsustainable war. This book draws from scholarly knowledge and first-hand insights to explore parallels between wars in Afghanistan and Vietnam, showing how the United States and the Soviet Union met the same fate.

Format: Hardback
Length: 163 pages
Publication date: 25 March 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

Great powers have frequently discovered that military adventurism to impose their will on foreign territories carries the risk of expending excessive military, economic, and moral capital to the point that war becomes unsustainable. This book, written by a former BBC Afghanistan correspondent who established the corporation bureau in Kabul in the early 1990s, draws on scholarly knowledge as well as firsthand insights on how the Americans met their fate in Vietnam, as well as the Soviets and Americans in Afghanistan. The 1975 American retreat from Vietnam was a significant event, prompting US commentators to explain it as reluctance to engage in foreign wars, a mindset known as the Vietnam Syndrome. As Deepak Tripathi points out, the Vietnam experience made the Americans determined to give the Soviets their own Vietnam. The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, followed by a decade of occupation, represented the revenge America sought. However, President George W. Bush's decision to invade Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks marked the beginning of a long military venture that ended in retreat in 2021. Tripathi addresses an academic as well as a general audience, exploring parallels between wars in Afghanistan and Vietnam and demonstrating how the United States and the Soviet Union met the same fate.

Weight: 460g
Dimension: 241 x 164 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031235542
Edition number: 1st ed. 2023