An examination of Afghan society in conflict, from the 1978 communist coup to the fall of Najibullah, the last Soviet-installed president, in 1992. This edition, revised by the author, reflects developments since then and includes material on the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. Drawing on two decades of research, Barnett Rubin provides an account of the nature of the old regime, the rise and fall of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, and the troubled Mujahidin resistance. He relates all these phenomena to international actors, showing how the interaction of US policy and Pakistani and Saudi Arabian interests has helped to create the challenges of today. Rubin puts into context the continuing turmoil in Afghanistan and seeks to offer readers a coherent historical explanation for the country's social and political fragmentation.