"The question of the transfer of Kushka to Afghanistan disappears": territorial problems in the context of early Soviet-Afghan relations

The article analyzes Soviet-Afghan relations during the reign of Amir Amanullah Khan in Afghanistan, who, after a lost war with the British, was looking for ways to strengthen his power. He tried to make the territorial issue one of the important directions in relations with Soviet Russia (the transfer of Kushka and the Pende oasis to the Afghans), believing that the Soviets were ready to make these concessions in order to strengthen their role in the emirate and joint anti-British actions. The article shows the inconsistency and ambiguity of the Soviet policy, which initially supported the Afghan territorial claims for the sake of a new involvement of Afghanistan in the war with the British, and then refused to fulfill these promises.