Invasion of Afghanistan, 1979
In 1979, Soviet troops were sent to Afghanistan to help the unpopular pro-Soviet government fight the anti-communist, pro-Muslim rebels. The Soviet government also intended to establish a military base in Afghanistan, within reach of the major oilfields.
The United States had warned the Soviet Union not to invade Afghanistan. The US was afraid that the Soviet invasion might lead to a Soviet expansion in Central Asia and pose a threat to the oil-supplying states in the Middle East, which would threaten American interest. Relations between the East and the West turned bad after the invasion of Afghanistan.