Afghanistan and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, 1978–1989: Forms and Dynamics of Interaction

The article analyses Afghanistan’s interaction with the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) between 1978 and 1989, focusing on institutional cooperation and bilateral relations with individual socialist countries. Based on documents from the Russian State Archive of the Economy, it identifies 1979 as the start of permanent CMEA-Afghan cooperation, preceding the Soviet military intervention. The study examines the main forms of economic interaction, including credit assistance, trade relations, and joint projects, as well as the 1987 Cooperation Agreement between the CMEA and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. The research employs comparative-historical, chronological, and problem-analysis methods to trace the evolution of these relations and assess their impact. It argues that the CMEA-Afghan partnership was an experiment in integrating a developing country, marked by political instability, into the socialist and global economic systems. The Agreement aimed to institutionalise cooperation and strengthen Afghanistan’s participation in multilateral socialist economic frameworks, yet its implementation coincided with the decline of both the Soviet Union and the CMEA, limiting its effectiveness. By introducing previously unpublished archival sources, the article contributes to the study of late Cold War economic diplomacy and socialist internationalism. It also offers new insights into how the socialist bloc attempted to engage with the developing world through economic instruments rather than purely political or military means.

Afghanistan, CMEA, Cold War, socialist countries, foreign policy, foreign trade, economic cooperation, international relations