How did poverty play a role in the Ukraine? Seems more likely the fault of a greedy dictator to me. Vietnam, LOL we were fighting communism not poverty. Hmmm, today Vietnam is a communist country. The best thing that came out of that war was the movie "Good Morning Vietnam. Afghanistan? We were seeking revenge for 9/11, it was so much fun we stayed for 20 years. The Afghans are still dirt poor.