US sanctions against the USSR in response to soviet aggression in Afghanistan (1980 – 1988)

DOI: 10.17721/2521-1706.2021.11.7

Oleksandr Kovalkov

Ph.D. (History), Associate Professor

V. Vynnychenko Central Ukraine State Pedagogical University, Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine

ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2344-3050

The aim of the article is to studу the sanctions against the Soviet Union imposed by the United States in response to Soviet aggression in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. At the core of the research methodology is the method of a content analysis of historical sources, problem-chronological, typological, comparative methods.

Main results and conclusions. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979 was condemned by most countries in the world. The reaction to those events on the part of the United States, which led to the escalation of the Cold War and the deterioration of Soviet-American relations, was especially sharp. The continuation of the policy of sanctions announced by President J. Carter in 1980 became the main means of putting pressure on the USSR under the Reagan΄s Administration. The stages of introduction of trade, economic and scientific-technological restrictions on the USSR and discussions about them in American political and business circles have been observed. Thanks to the efforts of American diplomacy, the US allies in Western Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and other countries joined the sanctions. It was found that the main direction of sanctions was the restriction on the sale to the USSR of equipment for the fuel and energy complex, high-tech products and the refusal to provide «cheap» loans. The effects of the sanctions were exacerbated by falling oil prices in 1985–1986, in which, according to the author, could be involved the United States. The purpose of American sanctions policy was to force the Soviet leadership to make internal changes, as well as to revise the principles of foreign policy, in particular, in the «Afghan question». American sanctions had a detrimental effect on the Soviet economy, deepened the crisis of the Soviet system and contributed to the further technological backwardness of the USSR from developed countries.

Scientific novelty. The sanctions against the Soviet Union imposed by the United States in connection with the Soviet aggression in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan on the base of new US sources are specified for the first time.

Key words: the USA, the R. Reagan Administration, the USSR, aggression in Afghanistan, sanctions.

Submitted: 25.03.2021

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