Chapter 15 Gitelson, Foreign Policy Glossary (J.4)

Allies: The countries fighting the Axis powers in World War II. The main Allies were the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China and the Soviet Union (USSR)

Aquino, Corazon: The Philippines received U.S. aid while under President Corazon Aquino. She served during the Cold War while the first Bush was US President.

Axis: The countries fighting the Allies during World War II. The main Axis powers were Japan, Germany and Italy.

Ayatollah Khomeini: see Khomeini

Bay of Pigs (G 450): Location of an unsuccessful attack against the Fidel Castro government of Cuba by CIA-backed exiles during the Kennedy presidency.

Berlin Airlift (G 429): The delivering of supplies by air to West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded the city shortly after World War II ended.

Berlin Wall (G 424, 429): Soviet-built wall around West Berlin that came to symbolize the Cold War until its destruction in 1989.

Bosnia: Country that was part of the former Yugoslavia where a bloody civil war led to UN intervention and a subsequent humanitarian peacekeeping mission under Clinton.

Camp David Accords: agreements in which Egypt recognized Israel’s right to exist and Israel agreed withdraw its forces from the Sinai Peninsula.

Canada: see North American Free Trade Agreement.

Castro, Fidel (G 448): Communist Cuban leader who overthrew pro-US dictator Fulgencio Batista and seized US property during the Eisenhower presidency.

Chiang Kai-shek: Pro-US Chinese Nationalist leader who fought against Japanese and communist forces. In 1950, he escaped Mainland China after a series of communist victories and established the Republic of China in Formosa (Taiwan). See, Mao tse-tung.

Cold War (G 424-25, 429, 435, 439, 442, 450-52): The ideological struggle between the US and its NATO Western European allies against the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact Eastern European allies lasting from the late 1940's to the late 1980's. It was characterized by a strain on international relations with no actual combat directly between the two sides.

Containment (G 429-430): Policy adopted by the US in the late 1940's advocating containing communism within its existing boundaries.

Contras (G 448): US-backed guerrillas fighting against the Sandinista (Marxist) government of Nicaragua during the Reagan presidency.

Cuba (G 448): Country where a communist revolution led by Fidel Castro overthrew pro-US dictator Fulgencio Batista during the late Eisenhower presidency. US cut relations with Cuba, formed an exile army to overthrow Castro (See also, Bay of pigs), and engaged in the Cuban missile crisis.

Cuban missile crisis (G 429): A crisis during the Cold War stemming from a series of events in October 1962. First, the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, in response to the Bay of Pigs invasion. The US saw the Soviet missile sites through spy planes and blockaded the island. Tensions died down both sides agreed to remove their nuclear weapons from Cuba and Turkey respectively and the US promised not to invade Cuba.

Department of Defense (G 441, 445): The cabinet department responsible for military policy-making.

Department of State (G 441): The cabinet department responsible for the day-to-day operation of embassies, the protection of US interests abroad, formal negotiations between the US and other nations and providing advice and assistance to the president.

Detente (G 431, 432): The relaxation of tensions between nations. It became the name for President Nixon' s policy of taking a more cooperative approach in dealing with Soviet bloc nations while enhancing US security arrangements with its allies.

DMZ / Demilitarized Zone: Area 12 miles wide along the border between North and South Korea which under international treaties was supposed to be demilitarized, but never was. The de-militarized zone roughly follows along the same 38^th parallel that had originally divided Korea into two countries following the end of World War II in 1945.

Domino Theory: Recurring Cold War belief that a communist regime in a region of the world is bound to expand its ideology to its neighbors.

East Bloc: The Soviet Union and its eastern European allies.

El Salvador: The US openly provided military aid to El Salvador in its civil war against left-wing rebels during the Reagan administration.

Expansionism (G 427): The pre-World War I American policy that led the US to extend its boundaries to the Pacific while extending its influence in other areas of the world.

Foreign aid (G 449): Assistance provided by the US to another country in the form of money, supplies or low-interest loans.

Glasnost: Soviet policy under Gorbachev which encouraged public openness and criticism of the government.

Gorbachev, Mikhail (G 424, 434-36, 451): Soviet leader noted for allowing public openness and criticism (see also, glasnost), restructuring the economy (see also, perestroika), allowing eastern European allies to have more freedom, and entering into missile-reduction agreements with the US.

Greece/Turkey (G 428): the US gave $400 million dollars in military aid to these nations to counter pro-communist insurgencies under the Truman Doctrine.

Grenada: Country where a US intervention to overthrew a newly established communist government during the Reagan administration.

Guatemala: Country where a CIA-sponsored exile attack during the Eisenhower presidency overthrew the government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzman after it seized American property without compensation and imported soviet weapons.

Gulf of Tonkin: staged event in which the President Johnson said a US destroyer received fire from North Vietnamese gunboats which led Congress to pass the Golf of Tonkin resolution allowing the president to send American troops to Vietnam.

Haiti (G 444): Country where the threat of a UN-backed American intervention, during the Clinton presidency, forced a military regime to return power to a democratically elected government. American troops were sent to maintain peace.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki (G 456): Cities that have been the only sites where atomic weapons have been used in warfare. The US dropped one atomic bomb in each towards the end of World War II.

Hitler, Adolf: German Nazi dictator during World War II, who was responsible for the rise of German power, the outbreak of World War II, Germany's defeat and the holocaust.

Ho Chi Minh: North Vietnamese communist leader that fought against the US and the South Vietnamese during the Vietnam War.

Hussein, Saddam: dictator of Iraq who invaded Kuwait in 1990 after the Cold War was over and was driven back by US forces shortly afterward.

Internationalism: The belief that the greatest possible cooperation between nations in trade, culture, education, government, etc. is the best way to build peace.

Iran-Contra affair: A two pronged international scandal in which it was discovered that the Reagan administration had sold US weapons to Iran, which was involved in a bloody war with Iraq, in exchange for U. S hostages held in Lebanon and using the profits as military aid the contras in Nicaragua, which Congress had specifically forbidden.

Iran (G 435, 435f): Country where a fundamentalist revolution and a subsequent hostage taking of US embassy personnel in the capital of Tehran by followers of the Ayatollah Khomeni caused a strain in relations with the US.

Iranian hostage crisis: see Iran

Iraq (G 438, 449, 452): Country that, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait and threatened to move into Saudi Arabia caused a US-led and UN-sponsored air and land invasion to remove Iraq’s forces from Kuwait.

Isolationism (G 426-427, 428): Policy, followed by the US up to World War I and in between World War I and World War II, of the detaching a country as much as possible from international affairs.

Israel (G 432, 448): Jewish state created following the end of World War II in 1945. Resentment among Arab and Muslim countries led to constant friction between Israel and its neighbors.

Khomeini, Ayatollah: Iranian fundamentalist leader who overthrew the Shah and became leader of Iran during the Carter administration.

Korean War (G 429-30, 451): The first major test to the containment policy. War broke out between the Soviet-backed North Korea and US-backed South Korea over supremacy of the peninsula causing President Truman sent US troops to help defend South Korea.

Kosovo (G 438): Serbian province where a civil war between separatists and Serbian forces led to NATO interference. Serbia conceded to withdrawing troops after 72 days of continuous bombing.

League of Nations (G 428): Multinational organization created by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. It had little credibility, in part because the US never joined, and no enforcement power.

Lebanon: Country where a terrorist attack killed 219 American servicemen who had been sent there to protect Palestinian forces from an Israeli campaign and where U.S. people were held hostage during the Iran-Contra affair.

MAD: see Mutual Assured Destruction

Mao Tse-tung: Chinese communist leader who fought the Japanese during World War II and the nationalists, under Chiang Kai-shek, in a civil war. He created the People’s Republic of China during the Truman administration, pushing the nationalists to Formosa (Taiwan).

Marshall Plan (G 449): Economic aid plan to Western European nations after World War II to help rebuild infrastructure and contain communist expansion.

Massive retaliation (G 456): The military strategy favored by the US during the 1950’s, which involved warning the Soviet Union and its allies that any military confrontation could produce an annihilating nuclear attack.

Mayaguez: American merchant ship taking over by the newly created communist government of Cambodia. President Ford ordered a rescue mission that resulted in the heaviest American casualties ever.

Mexico: see North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mussolini, Benito: Italian fascist dictator during World War II.

Mutual Assured Destruction / MAD (G 456): Strategy that evolved in the 1960’s whereby each of the nuclear powers would hold the other in check by maintaining the ability to annihilate the other in any major nuclear conflict.

NAFTA: see North American Free Trade Agreement

NATO: see North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NSC: see National Security Council /

National Security Council / NSC (G 440, 443, 450): A council that advises the president on foreign policy and coordinates its implementation.

National security advisor (G 440): The head of the National Security Council staff, which may sometimes have a strong influence of foreign and defense policies. (Also spelled national security adviser

Nicaragua (G 443, 448): Sandinista (Marxist) peasant rebels toppled dictator Anastasio Somoza. The Reagan administration covertly aided the contras, anti-communist guerrillas fighting to overthrow the Sandinista government.

Noriega, Manuel: Panamanian dictator charged by the elder Bush administration of aiding drug traffickers. He was captured in a US intervention and sent to Miami to face charges.

North American Free Trade Agreement / NAFTA (G 438, 442-443): Economic free-trade treaty between the US, Mexico and Canada negotiated under the elder Bush and passed by Congress under Clinton.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization / NATO (G 430, 431, 435, 450): Cold War military alliance between the US and its allies based on the assumption that an attack on one is an attack on all.

OPEC: see Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries 

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) (G 426, 432): Organization of oil producing countries which established an embargo on the US in the early 1970's producing gas prices to skyrocket and severe gas shortages.

PRC: see People's Republic of China

Palestine (G 439f): Land where Israel is located.

Panama: US intervention during the first Bush administration to remove Manuel Noriega from power and bring him to face justice in the US for drug trafficking.

People's Republic of China / PRC (G 431, 440, 448): Communist government created in Mainland China after the end of the Chinese civil war, shortly after the end of World War II.

Persian Gulf (G 434, 436, 445, 447): US-led intervention to remove Saddam Hussein's Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

Perestroika: Soviet economic plan under Mikhail Gorbachev to restructure the economy, encourage individual enterprises and decentralize the administration to stimulate the economy.

Philippines: US territory until shortly after the end of World War II. The US maintains high amount of influence by giving large amounts of foreign aid to the Philippines.

ROC: see Republic of China

Republic of China / ROC: Chinese nationalist government established in Formosa (Taiwan) after the end of the Chinese civil war, shortly after the end of World War II. The US recognized the ROC as the legitimate government of China until the Nixon administration.

SALT: see Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty

SDI: see Strategic Defense Initiative

START: see Strategic Arms Reductions Talks

Sandinistas: Nicaraguan Marxist peasant rebels who overthrew the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in 1979 during the Cold War and set up a communist regime.

Serbia: see Yugoslavia

Somalia (G 438): Country where a humanitarian effort during the late Bush sr. presidency and early Clinton presidency to send food supplies to war and drought-stricken nation resulted in 30 American servicemen dead due to clan violence.

Somoza, Anastasio: Nicaraguan dictator deposed by Sandinista rebels in 1979 during the Cold War.

Stalin, Josef (G 437): Soviet dictator during World War II and the beginning of the cold war characterized by his cyclical purges and persecutions.

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I): Treaty between the US and the Soviet Union during the Nixon administration to limit the amount of nuclear weapons each had.

Strategic Arms Reductions Talks (START): Talks between the US and the Soviet Union during the Reagan administration that led to an agreement to eliminate short- and medium-range nuclear missiles.

Strategic Defense Initiative (G 457): Unsuccessful proposed space-based anti-missile weapons system during the Reagan administration.

Tiananmen Square (G 435, 449): Major democracy protests in China, in 1989, lead to violent government crackdown.

Third World (G 430-431, 442, 449, 452): Term of the cold war referring to undeveloped countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia not allied to either the US or the Soviet Union.

Truman Doctrine: US cold war policy of containing communism by aiding anti-communist governments in Greece and Turkey.

Turkey/Greece (G 428): the US gave $400 million dollars in military aid to these nations to counter pro-communist insurgencies under the Truman Doctrine.

USSR: see Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Unilateralism (G 427): The Pre-World War I American policy of taking action independently in foreign affairs, avoiding political or military alliances.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union): Communist government set up after the 1917 Russian revolution by the former Russian Empire.

United Nations (UN or UNO) (G 427, 455): Global organization set up after World War II to maintain peace and try to resolve disputes among nations through negotiations rather than war.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO): aims to promote collaboration among nations through education, science and culture

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF): provides aid and development assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.

Vietnam War (G 430-31, 444-446, 450-51): Civil war between North Vietnam (pro-communist) and South Vietnam (pro-western) led to US involvement on the side of the south and eventual defeat.

Warsaw Pact: Cold War military alliance led by the Soviet Union including Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

West Bank: Area formally in the hands of Jordan until Israel occupied after the war of 1967.

Yeltsin, Boris: In 1990 Boris Yeltsin became the new Russian President, replacing M. Gorbachev and bringing an end to Communist rule in the country.

Yugoslavia: Serbians in Yugoslavia fought against Bosnia in the early Clinton administration and ethnic Albanian rebels in Kosovo in the late Clinton administration. The UN sent peacekeepers to Bosnia and NATO launched US-led air strikes against Yugoslavia because of the Serbian conflict over Kosovo.