Between 1979 and 1992, the Swiss government became deeply involved in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan as a provider of neutral good offices. The Swiss authorities delivered humanitarian aid, took in Soviet prisoners of war and mediated between the Afghan government and the armed resistance – the mujahideen – after the Soviet withdrawal of 1989. Stadler’s book project explains the evolution of Switzerland’s response to the Afghan crisis between 1979 and 1992 and its implications for our understanding of Swiss neutrality. It contributes to the book series New Perspectives on the Cold War, edited by Jussi Hanhimäki and Marco Wyss, which builds on new historiographical research into the Cold War history of medium and smaller powers. In doing so, it draws on multi-archival source material from the Swiss Federal Archives in Berne, the Bibliotheca Afghanica in Bubendorf (Switzerland), the ICRC archives in Geneva, the Yale University Archives and the Ronald Reagan Library in California.

HBC Stadler 2023 02 22 (410 Kb)

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