Carter Administration’s Policy Toward Afghanistan(1977-1981)

A coup broke out in Afghanistan when it’s in April,1978.The Taraki government then controlled state power.The infiltration of communism caused geopolitical changes in Central Asia.Out of fear that Afghanistan would fall into the track of the Soviet Union,the Carter administration changed the dismissive attitude of the United States towards Afghanistan,and gradually brewed covert operations against the situation in Afghanistan.In this regard,on the basis of combing the latest declassified archives of the FRUS on the Carter government’s Afghanistan policy,the thesis divides the Carter government’s intelligence capabilities into two main categories—the capabilities of intelligence collection and intelligence protection,and mainly discusses them from three aspects: Firstly,The influence of intelligence collection capabilities on the decision-making and the planning of the operations;Secondly,The influence of intelligence collection capabilities on the effectiveness of secret operations.Thirdly,The impact of intelligence protection capabilities on the effectiveness of the operations.The research has two findings: Firstly,in the planning of covert operations in Afghanistan,the capability of intelligence collection is a key factor in ensuring the progress of the operations.The willingness of the key third country to cooperate determines the level of intelligence collection capabilities.Therefore,this article also explains the reasons that the Carter administration chooses Pakistan as a key role.And it discusses the Carter Administration’s Compromise toward Pakistan on Afghanistan around the fluctuations in US-Pakistan relations on the nuclear issue.Secondly,in the process of covert operations in Afghanistan,the capabilities of intelligence protection are the top priority to ensure the continuity of the operations.It affects intelligence collection and covert operations by influencing the willingness of key third country to cooperate.