JCC: Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, 1978

Afghanistan: the Graveyard of Empires.

Alexander the Great, the British Empire, Tsarist Russia, the USSR, and today, American and NATO forces have all become embroiled in brutal conflicts in Afghanistan. It is now April 1978: the Saur Revolution has just occurred, displacing the secular and ostensibly non-aligned government. Afghanistan must redefine itself in the middle of the Cold War, and external powers are looking to get involved. The Soviet Union is worried about the rise of a new anti-Soviet regime; meanwhile, western forces led by the United States are looking to shift the balance of power in their favor, and people across the Muslim world are concerned about a threat to their faith. How will these competing interests play out? Will communism rise in Afghanistan? Will another superpower be able to carry out an invasion in the midst of a decades-long struggle between superpowers? How will the role of Islam in politics evolve at the end of the 20th century? All of these questions you, delegates, will be able to answer.