Afghanistan and the USSR sign a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation

Somalia expelled Soviet military advisers and abrogated its friendship treaty after Moscow backed Ethiopia in the Ogaden War. The turn exposed the strategic and contingent nature of Soviet...

Czechoslovak cosmonaut Vladimír Remek flew with Soviet commander Aleksei Gubarev. The program presented socialist cooperation as internationalist, while its launch infrastructure and strategic...

After a Soviet- and Cuban-supported Ethiopian counteroffensive, Somali forces withdrew from the Ogaden. The conventional war ended, but insurgency, militarization, and displacement continued for local...

Afghan military officers and the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan seized power and killed President Mohammed Daoud Khan. The new government pursued a radical program that encountered...

The treaty formalized close relations after Vietnam’s reunification and its conflict with Cambodia and China. Vietnam pursued its own security and regional aims; the agreement also expanded Soviet...

The Shah’s departure followed a mass revolutionary movement against monarchy and foreign influence. Moscow watched a regional upheaval shaped by Iranian actors, whose diverse political visions...

Chinese forces crossed into Vietnam after months of worsening relations. The USSR condemned the attack and supported Vietnam under their 1978 treaty, while Vietnamese communities faced a devastating...

The agreement set limits on strategic nuclear delivery systems, though the U.S. Senate never ratified it. Arms control addressed superpower arsenals while leaving the wider militarized order intact.

Afghan President Nur Muhammad Taraki was critically injured in an internal power struggle, and Hafizullah Amin consolidated control. The episode reflects factional conflict within Afghanistan’s ruling...

Soviet forces began a large-scale deployment into Afghanistan in late December. Moscow described the move as assistance requested by Kabul; it escalated an Afghan conflict into a foreign...