Leonid Brezhnev was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until 1982. He played a significant role in shaping Soviet domestic and foreign policy during the Cold War. Brezhnev's leadership is often associated with a period of political stability and economic stagnation known as the Brezhnev Era. Under Brezhnev, the Soviet Union pursued a policy of détente, seeking to ease tensions with the United States and other Western nations. He also oversaw the expansion of the Soviet military and the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, which marked a turning point in Soviet foreign relations and contributed to the eventual decline of the Soviet Union.