The Cold War of the 1970s saw a brief period of calm and easing of tensions, known as détente, between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. US President Richard Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev had signed arms limitation treaties, and the two superpowers even seemed capable of coexisting. However, during the façade of peace, the two superpowers continued to exert their influence through indirect means, particularly in the Third World. One event in particular would see the United States carry out the largest and most successful covert operation in history (Johnson, 2012), which would impact millions of people and effects that would be felt decades later. late. Covert U.S. action to aid the Afghans during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan left the Soviets defeated, but with no intention of rebuilding the nation and selfishly continuing the downfall of the Soviet Union, the United States United left Afghanistan open to regimes arguably worse than the Soviets. “Red Threat”. In April 1978, the Afghan communist party, the Afghan People's Democratic Party (ADPA), took control of the government through a coup and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) (BBC, 2009). While the PDPA initiates a radical shift from far-left perceived Western values ​​in the form of the ban on forced marriage and bride price; increase in minimum wage; education of the population, men and women alike; After the reallocation of agricultural land imposed by a “communist without God” ideology (Saika, 2004), resistance began to form around traditional Afghan Islamic tribal groups. In October 1978, PDPA policies met massive resistance as civil unrest continued to escalate (BBC, 2009). With politics...... middle of paper ......stan. Third World Quarterly, 23(3), 467-489. Johnson, L. K. (2012). National security intelligence: covert operations in defense of democracies. Cambridge, UK: Polity. Keane, D. (Director). (2007). Inside the Taliban [Documentary] [Cinema]. Lansford, T. (2003). A Bitter Harvest: American Foreign Policy and Afghanistan. Hants, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Reuveny, R. and Prakash, A. (1999). The war in Afghanistan and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Review of International Studies, 25, 693-708. Saikal, A. (2004). Communist regime, Soviet invasion and resistance. In Modern Afghanistan – A Story of Struggle and Survival (pp. 187-208). London: IB Tauris & Co Ltd. Saikal, A. (2004). Islamic regime of the mujahideen, extremism of the Taliban and American intervention. In Modern Afghanistan - A story of struggle and survival. (pp. 209-230). London: IB Tauris & Co Ltd.