4-D Soviet Style: Defense, Development, Diplomacy, and Disengagement in Afghanistan During the Soviet Period. Part II: Social Development

摘要

Part two of the authors' study of the Soviet involvement in Afghnistan deals with social development as one of the elements of the overall Soviet state-building strategy. The authors conclude that Soviet social development policies, the effects of Soviet inspired nationalities policy, and the heavy-handed response to the opponents of the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) alienated much of the population. The government in Kabul was able to attract some support primarily among the urban and the more educated stratum of the society, but, on the whole, remained isolated from the rural masses. The inability to engage a significant number of people in the state building process seriously undermined the Sovietization strategy. Soviet efforts to raise literacy levels among Afghans, and to enfranchise Afghan women could be qualified as relatively, if ephemerally, successful.