The Importance of Afghanistan in International Politics

The questioner : The Importance of Afghanistan in International Politics. Despite what has been said about its importance, Afghanistan is a mountainous country with... However, it does not constitute a major object of desire. It has gas, but it has no oil, and it has no ports. It is a closed country. However, its importance lies in the fact that Afghanistan has fallen within the scope of international political maneuvering, as it is a link in the Cold War between the Soviet Union and America. The Soviet Union considers Afghanistan important to it as a region that protects its southern borders from the Western danger coming from Europe and America. Likewise, Afghanistan is considered a buffer zone to protect the spread of communism, should it be threatened. In the era of the deposed King Zahir Shah, Iran represented the first American line opposing communism from the east of Europe. The Russians had ambitions in Afghanistan since the era of the Tsars, that is, for more than approximately seventy to eighty years. They had ambitions within Afghanistan, and they carried out these ambitions in 1978, that is, after at least seventy years. Iran had very great ambitions. In fact, when the coup of Muhammad Daoud against Zahir Shah, who was his cousin, took place, the Iranian intelligence agency had a very great influence. It is called the SAVAK, which was trained and nurtured by the Israeli intelligence apparatus. It had a focus, and it was the one that established the Ministry of the Interior and the police apparatus within Afghanistan during the days of Zahir Shah and Muhammad Daoud. From that period, this gives us the beginning of Iran's ambitions within Afghanistan. The West took an interest in Afghanistan because it is located on the southern border, the shared border, with the Soviet Union, approximately two thousand kilometers. This is from the south, and with the West, approximately eight hundred kilometers with Iran, and very large borders. So the West considered that Afghanistan represents for it a supporting link in containing the Russians and isolating them, and preventing them from meeting their ally in the region, which is India. The alliance is established between India and the Russians, and India is considered a true enemy of America in that region. Second, it is considered a buffer zone, as I mentioned, regarding the West's ambitions in Europe, and out of their fear of the spread of the communist danger. Third, it is an opportunity and land, as we call it in colloquial terms, "fertile ground," land suitable for the influence of the Western system and extending the nature of Western society into Afghan society, as it is a simple society that is easy to influence. We conclude with the following point.