Ep 023 "Afghanistan: The Soviet Debacle 1978-1989"

The defeat of the USSR in Afghanistan was part of a broad tapestry of disasters that eventually brought the Russian communist state crashing down. The shattering of Soviet forces by the indigenous rebels aided by foreign fighters and sophisticated weapons technology from the West doomed the USSR to failure. The Americans would later respond with: "Hold my beer..."

References:

Ahmed Rashid Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia

Rodric Braithewaite Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89

Daniel P. Bolger