The Dilemma In Balance:the United States Foreign Policy Toward Afghanistan (1947-1961)

Adjacent to several great powers and Middle East, Afghanistan is a land-locked and mountain country in Asia, which has an important strategic position. The Buffer status was made by the Britain—Russia competition in19century; and after the outbreak of the cold war, the United States and the Soviet Union began a new round competition, which induced the Soviet inraded Afghanitan in1979. in history and reality, the United States is one of the most outer important factors whhich influenced Afghanistan. So, the dissertation tries to analyze the Truman---Eisenhower administration’s foreign policy toward Afghanistan---the formation, the content, the development and the characteristic, to explain the important influence of Eisenhaower’foreign policy toward Afghanistan, and to learn the direct relatedness between the American foreign policy and the Afghanistan war in1979.there are five chapters in the dissertation, which studied four contents.The first part is the historic about the American foreign policy toward Afghanistan and the bilateral relations from19centuray to the World War Ⅱ. The first contact between the United States and Afghanistan was in the middle of19century, when several American missionaries travlled to Afghansitan. The turn point of the bilateral relations was in1921, when the government delegation of Afghanistan (GOA) visited the United Staes, which beginned the bilateral official relations. But the United States was indifferent to Afghanistan, and Afghanistan insisted on the effort for the normal diplomatic relations with America. With the change of internal and abroad situation, the United States government adjusted the indifferent policy toward Afghanisatn, as the result the two countries established diplomatic relations in1936, and the permanent representative to Afghanistan arrived Kabul in1942. During the WW II, the Amrican policy faced the more pressure which came from the Axis powers. To assured the neutrality of Afghanistan, the United States government provied Afghanistan some economic aid and inflicted the diplomatic pressure. At the same time, the competition in Afghanittan appeared initially between the United States and the Soviet Uinon. The Soviet Union gave every effort to prevent from western presence in the northern of Afghanistan. During the development of the bilateral relatiosns, there was comparatively large difference between the United States and Afghanistan’s policy initiative. Afghanistan was high passionate all the time, while the American policy’s development was tardo as a whole because of the limited interest, the shortage of information and the comfinement of the Britanin.the second part studied the Truman’s foreign policy toward Afghanistan. After1947, Afghanistan and the South Asia countries were involved in the America—Soviet competition rip-tide. the Truman administration didn’t value Afghanisan and carried out the limited policy, that is:(1) supported Afghaistan join in the United Nations in1946, and prompted Afghan blend into the Western-dominant international order, which could restraint the Soveit Uinon’s activity in Afghansitan and make the international society share American burdern in Afghanistan.(2) gave Afghanistan limited economic aid under the "Four Point" program, but the United States refused Afghan’s military request many times. In short, In the new context of cold war, the Trumanm administration’s policy system wasn’t formed, and had not a difinited strategic positioning and policy goal in Afhanistan. The basic charateristic of Truman’s policy toward Afghanistan could be summarize as "no intimate and no ceded". There were several factors which affected the Truman administration’s policy toward Afghanistan, one of the important factors was the Soviet Union policy’s wateriness and the exetremely weakness of the Communist forces in Afghanistan.the third part is the key content of the dissertation, which analysize the Eisenhaower administration’s foreign policy toward Afghanisatn comprehensively. The leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union and the Afghanistan changed samely, and these three countries’s foreign policy changed too. As the Prime Minister of Afghan, Daoud regarded the economic development as the primary strategy, and carried out the rigid policy toward Pakistan. Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev raised "the peaceful competition", and strengthened the diplomacy and aid to the third world, tried to break the military siege made by the United States. Afghanistan was one of the important policy targets. the Soviet Union’s economic, military and personel aid began entered Afghanisatn with Khrushchev’s visit in1955. In response to the change of Afghan and Soviet policy, and Soviet policy toward Afghansian, Eisenhaower administration formulated "the great balance" strategy, which emphasized to coordinate the allies contain the Soviet and compete the third world. the United States raised the "Dulles Program", in order to urge " the Northern Countries" to establish the anti-Soviet military ally, the Afghanistan became the American target. But Afghanistan insisted the neutrality diplomacy and refused the United State. This led to Eisenhaower reappraised the policy. With the symbal of NSC series documents, Eisenhower administration formed the new policy toward Afghanistan. The goal of American policy was to assure Afghanistan’s neutral position between America and Soviet by economic and other aid, and consolidated Afghan’s buffer status, isolated Soviet from South-Asia and Middle East. At the same time, Eisenhower administration institutd the basic policy principle of "maintain balance but not advantage", that is, America would not match Soviet with equal scale and equal level competition, but preserved American presence in Afghanistan to offset Soviet’s expansion by moderate aid, by Afghans intiminate to Americans and feared to Soviets. On the other hand, as a by-product of America--Soviet competition, the two great powers created a realistic "cooperation situation" in Afghanistan, and Afghan was the biggest beneficiary of America—Soviet competition. The equilibrium pattern shaped.In1957, Eisenhower administration discussed and exchanged the opionion with Afghansitan government about the Eisenhower doctrine, and Afghan accepted the Eisenhower doctrine incompletely. At the same time, Soviet strenthened the policy toward Afghanistan, as the result, Eisenhower administration tried to balanced the Soviet action by kinds means, for example, America expanded the aid scale and field, reformed the policy-making organization, combined bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, and carried out "summit diplomacy", which Daoud visited America in1958and Eisenhower visited Afghanistan in1959. the principle of Eisenhower administrationi’s policy toward Afghanistan had been continued to the late of1970s, which avoided stimulate the Soviet Union to act extremely. In the sense, the war in 1979was not the direct result of American policy toward Afghanistan.The forth part studied the Pashtunistan dispute and crisis between Afghanistan and Pakistan topicality. The crisis was the important reason for American policy be in dellimma. One of the dellimma was the United State would choose to stand on which country when America didn’t want to abandon any one. The second dilemma was the degree of support which the United States gave to Pakistan while it would not stimulate Afghanistan fiercely. It was because the dilemma that the United States could not prompt the settlement of the dispute, and the crisis broke out twice. The reason of the dilema was the conflict between American interests and the local countries’interests. The United States wanted to temper the local countries’ controdiction according to the ideas itself, and made the settlement of dispute served to American cold war interests, but ignored the local countries’s interests demand. The policy dillemma which the United States faced Afghan—Pakistan dispute was universal when America intervened other local disputes around the world, and the policy and the characteristic had some reference and revelation for us to understand American intervened policy toward local dispute.