Throughout history sports have been a way for nations to come together in celebration of a joint athletic spirit and the ability to demonstrate their national pride. While many Olympic Games have been rooted in controversies such as drug and doping scandals, the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow, had to face mass boycotts from foreign … Continue reading Physical Sports & Politics
It was in late December, 1979 that the Soviet 40th Army moved to invade the country of Afghanistan. In the Soviets’ mind, they were helping to improve communist relations between the Afghan people and the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), a communist political party.1 During the midst of the Cold War, the United States had … Continue reading Russian Into Afghanistan
If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I like to talk about war and conflict in history. This blog post will do just that. In late December, 1979, the USSR began conducting military operations in the socialist republic of Afghanistan, responding to an Afghani call for aid. The goal of these operations were to stabilize […]
Afghans wait outside the Kabul central Pulicharkhi prison on January 14, 1980, days after the Moscow-installed regime of Babrak Karmal took over. (Photo credit: AP Photo). Many things happened in 1978 that lead to the invasion of Afghanistan. Nur Mohammad Taraki took over the government with a coup. He was a member of Afghanistan’s communist…
The United States and the Soviet Union have never been best buds. However, the 1970’s brought about a new foreign policy that both the Soviet Union and the United States could get on board with, that of détente. This policy, as described by Gregory Freeze in his book, “Russia a History,” made way for agreements …
