ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Soviet interest in improved access to and utilization of resources as a contributory cause for the invasion and possible continued occupation of Afghanistan. Many scholars agree that the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 primarily to achieve the short-term goal of preventing the collapse of the Marxist government in Kabul and protecting against diminished Soviet influence there. Soviet means and motives in the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan are best understood in relation to the economic attachment of Afghanistan to Soviet Central Asia. The Soviet Midlands development program represents an increase in all prior projects of water diversion, out-shipment of agricultural products, interzonal cooperation in some industries, and integration into the national fuel-energy systems. The possibility of resource war as an element of Soviet foreign policy has been hotly debated. Idealized Western perceptions of Soviet foreign policy can be broken down into the "fundamentalist" ideas of relentless expansion, the insecurity interpretation, and the opportunistic approach.
