Relations between Afghanistan and the United States began in 1921 under the leaderships of King Amanullah Khan and President Warren G. Harding, respectively. The first contact between the two nations occurred further back in the 1830s when the first recorded person from the United States explored Afghanistan. The United States government foreign aid program provided about $500 million in aid for economic development; the aid ended before the 1978 Saur Revolution. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was a turning point in the Cold War, when the United States started to financially support the Afghan resistance. The country, under both the Carter and Reagan administrations committed $3 billion in financial and diplomatic support and along with Pakistan also rendering critical support to the anti-Soviet Mujahideen forces. Beginning in 1980, the United States began admitting thousands of Afghan refugees for resettlement, and provided money and weapons to the Mujahideen through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The USSR withdrew its troops in 1989.Richard Ned Lebow, and Janice Gross Stein, "Afghanistan, Carter, and foreign policy change: The limits of cognitive models." in Diplomacy, Force, and Leadership (Routledge, 2019) pp. 95-127.

After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the new Taliban government to capture Osama bin Laden, although he was fled and was later found in neighboring Pakistan. This invasion led to the reconstruction of Afghanistan and the reestablishment of its diplomatic relations with the rest of the world. In 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama declared Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally; however, Joe Biden revoked its designation in 2022 after the Taliban took control of Kabul. American involvement in the War in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. history, ended after the withdrawal of American troops from the country by August 30, 2021. Concurrent with the U.S. withdrawal, the Taliban launched a major offensive in summer 2021 and overthrew the U.S.-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, forcing the evacuation of U.S. diplomatic personnel from Afghanistan. The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs handles American foreign policy on Afghanistan.

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has repeatedly called upon the United States to reopen their embassy in Kabul and establish relations with the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. However, the United States continues to reject any bilateral ties with the Taliban unless they improve their human rights track record.

History

The first recorded contact between Afghanistan and the United States occurred in the 1830s when Josiah Harlan, an American adventurer and political activist from Philadelphia, traveled to South Asia with intentions of becoming the King of Afghanistan. It was when the East India Company (EIC) invaded Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–1842) when Afghan kings Shuja Shah Durrani and Dost Mohammad Khan were fighting for the throne of the Durrani Empire. Harlan became involved in Afghan politics and factional military actions, eventually winning the title Prince of Ghor in exchange for military aid. The British-Indian presidency armies of the EIC were defeated and forced to make a complete withdrawal a few years later, with around 16,500 of them being reported to be killed and captured in 1842. There is no clear evidence as to what happened because the claim is made by William Brydon, the lone survivor. Harlan left Afghanistan around the same period, eventually returning to the United States.

In 1911, A.C. Jewett arrived in Afghanistan to build a hydroelectric plant near Kabul. He became the Chief Engineer for King Habibullah Khan. Formerly an employee of General Electric (GE), he became the second American known to live and work in Afghanistan.

Official diplomatic relations

In January 1921, after the Treaty of Rawalpindi was signed between Afghanistan and British India, the Afghan mission visited the United States to establish diplomatic relations. Upon their return to Kabul, the envoys brought a greeting letter from U.S. President Warren G. Harding. After the establishment of diplomatic relations, the U.S. policy of helping developing nations raise their standard of living was an important factor in maintaining and improving U.S. ties with Afghanistan. Residing in Tehran, William Harrison Hornibrook served as a non-resident U.S. Envoy (Minister Plenipotentiary) to Afghanistan from 1935 to 1936. Louis G. Dreyfus served from 1940 to 1942, at which point the Kabul Legation was opened in June 1942. Colonel Gordon B. Enders of the United States Army was appointed the first military attaché to Kabul and Cornelius Van Hemert Engert represented the U.S. Legation from 1942 to 1945 followed by Ely Eliot Palmer from 1945 to 1948. Although Afghanistan had close relations with Nazi Germany, it remained neutral and was not a participant in World War II.

Cold War

Afghan-American relations became important during the start of the Cold War, between the United States and Soviet Union. Prince Mohammed Naim, King Zahir Shah's cousin, became the Chargé d'affaires in Washington, D.C. At that time, U.S. President Harry S. Truman commented that the friendship between the two countries would be "preserved and strengthened" by the presence of senior diplomats in each capital. The first official Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States was Habibullah Khan Tarzi, who served until 1953. The U.S. Kabul Legation was elevated to the U.S. Embassy Kabul on May 6, 1948. Louis Goethe Dreyfus, who previously served as Minister Plenipotentiary, became the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from 1949 to 1951.

In the years immediately after World War II, the United States had replaced the United Kingdom as the "paramount" power in Afghanistan's affairs. A 1950 journal by Arnold Fletcher from the University of Southern California noted the state of this country to the United States and described it as:

However, Fletcher also noted the difficulties of forming relations, amid tense Afghan-Pakistani border skirmishes:

The first American expedition to Afghanistan was led by Louis Dupree, Walter Fairservis, and Henry Hart. In 1953, Richard Nixon who was serving as U.S. Vice President at the time, made an official diplomatic visit to Kabul. He also took a short tour around the city and met with local Afghans.

In 1958, Prime Minister Daoud Khan became the first Afghan to speak before the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. His presentation focused on a number of issues, but most importantly, underscored the importance of U.S.-Afghan relations. While in the U.S. capital, Daoud met with President Eisenhower, signed an important cultural exchange agreement, and reaffirmed personal relations with then Vice President Richard Nixon that had begun during the latter's trip to Kabul in 1953. The Prime Minister also traveled around the United States visiting the New York Stock Exchange, the Empire State Building, hydroelectric facilities at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and other sites.

At that time the United States declined Afghanistan's request for defense cooperation but extended an economic assistance program focused on the development of Afghanistan's physical infrastructure—roads, dams, and power plants. Later, American aid shifted from infrastructure projects to technical assistance programs to help develop the skills needed to build a modern economy. Contacts between the United States and Afghanistan increased during the 1950s, especially during the Cuban Revolution between 1953 and 1959. While the Soviet Union was supporting Cuba's Fidel Castro, the United States was focusing on Afghanistan for its strategic purposes. This was mainly to counter the spread of communism and the strength of the Soviet Union into South Asia, particularly the Persian Gulf.

President Eisenhower made a state visit to Afghanistan in December 1959 to meet with its leaders. He landed at Bagram Airfield and then drove from there to Kabul in a motorcade. He met with King Zahir Shah, Prime Minister Daoud and a number of high-ranking government officials. He also took a tour of Kabul. After this important visit, the United States began to feel that Afghanistan was safe from ever becoming a Soviet satellite state. From the 1950s to 1979, U.S. foreign assistance provided Afghanistan with more than $500 million in loans, grants, and surplus agricultural commodities to develop transportation facilities, increase agricultural production, expand the educational system, stimulate industry, and improve government administration.

In 1963, King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan made a special state visit to the United States where he was met by John F. Kennedy and Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Zahir Shah also took a special tour of the United States, visiting Disneyland in California, New York City and other places. Habibullah Karzai, uncle of Hamid Karzai who served as representative of Afghanistan at the United Nations, is also believed to have accompanied Zahir Shah in the course of the King's state visit. During this period the Soviets were beginning to feel that the United States was turning Afghanistan into a satellite state. In 1965, Afghanistan and Cuba saw the establishment of communist parties, the Communist Party of Cuba and the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA).

Vice President Spiro Agnew, accompanied by Apollo 10 astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan, visited Kabul during an eleven-nation tour of Asia. At a formal dinner hosted by the Royal Family, the American delegation presented the King with a piece of lunar rock, a small Afghan flag carried on the Apollo 11 flight to the Moon, and photographs of Afghanistan taken from space. By the 1970s, numerous American teachers, engineers, doctors, scholars, diplomats, and explorers had traversed Afghanistan's rugged landscape where they lived and worked. The Peace Corps was active in Afghanistan between 1962 and 1979. Many other American programs were running in the country such as CARE, American Scouting overseas (Afghanistan Scout Association), USAID, and others.

Left-wing government, Soviet invasion and civil war

After the April 1978 Saur Revolution, relations between the two nations became spotty. While the Democratic Republic regime remained officially nonaligned and opened diplomatic relations with the U.S. by June 1978, as time went on Afghanistan's increasing bond in the Soviet orbit was a cause of concern. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance said at the time "We need to take into account the mix of nationalism and communism in the new leadership and seek to avoid driving the regime into a closer embrace with the Soviet Union than it might wish." The new American Ambassador Adolph "Spike" Dubs told a visiting official in August 1978 that a more positive American approach can reduce Soviet influence, adding that while Afghanistan would still have a pro-Soviet tilt, "it would not be a Soviet satellite, military or otherwise." Dubs also felt that Hafizullah Amin "can't go as far as Tito or even Ceaușescu".

In February 1979, Ambassador Dubs was murdered in Kabul after Afghan security forces burst in on his kidnappers, leading to a deterioration in relations. The U.S. then reduced bilateral assistance and terminated a small military training program. At the same time, the deteriorating internal situation in Afghanistan caused the U.S. to warn the Soviet Union not to intervene. Following Amin's rise as General Secretary, he publicly expressed his desire for friendly relations with the U.S. As the rebellion spread and the security situation deteriorated, U.S. authorities decided on July 23, 1979, to evacuate the families of American nationals in Afghanistan.