In this volume, historian Milan Hauner brilliantly links the lessons of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan with the East/West political struggles of today. Masterfully, he demonstrates the geographical and historical predicates of Russian imperialism in Asia. His analysis focuses on the failed military campaign in Afghanistan and Soviet diplomacy in Southwest Asia as a whole. The results are impressive. The reader is given the advantage of a fuller historical spectrum, and can better grasp the true shape of the present. More importantly, the reader can look into the future. From this vantage point, the constraints, possibilities, and obligations of U.S. diplomacy become more clear. Co-published with the Foreign Policy Research Institute.