When we speak of "a Vietnam" we refer to a situation of intervention of a great power (nowadays a superpower) in an internal and international situation peculiar to a country or group of states, in which the superpower justifies its actions in terms of the logic of the global confrontation typical of a bipolar system, however local factors also play a role. In the present work, three criteria for comparison between the interventions of the United States in Vietnam and the Soviet Union in Afghanistan are outlined. The first has to do with the actors and objectives of the intervention; the second with the theater of the intervention and, finally, the third with the military commitment to the intervention and its internal repercussions. Once these criteria are presented, a detailed examination of the Afghan case is made.
Keywords:
Intervention, Soviet Union and Afghanistan, United States and Vietnam, Bipolar System, Superpowers
Author Biography
Manfred Wilhelmy von Wolff, Universidad Católica de Valparaíso; niversidad Católica de Chile
Profesor de la Universidad Católica de Valparaíso y del instituto de Ciencia Política de la Universidad Católica de Chile.
Wilhelmy von Wolff, M. (1985). ¿Es Afganistán un Vietnam para la Unión Soviética?. Estudios Internacionales, 18(70), p. 302–334. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-3769.1985.15826
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