Who lost Afghanistan and when

Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was received with surprised outrage. Although the size of the Soviet operation may have been shocking in its scope, the fact of its occurrence should not have been surprising. This analysis examines Soviet and American relations with Afghanistan to show both why the U.S. should not have been so astonished and why the U.S.S.R. was equally amazed and indignant about the American reaction. The Soviet Union had an active interest in Afghanistan from the 1920s onward. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union became Afghanistan's primary trading partner and largest source of foreign aid. While the U.S. also contributed to the postwar development of Afghanistan, neither its share of aid nor its total commitment matched those of the Soviets. Given the degree of Soviet involvement in Afghanistan, the intervention is best interpreted as a means of preventing loss of influence and investment in its sphere of influence. Not committed to the same degree as the Soviet Union and preoccupied with conflicts like Vietnam and the Iranian hostage crisis, the United States was less inclined to compete with the Soviet Union in developing countries or on Afghanistan's behalf.