Chapter 17 Vocab: Foreign Policy: Protecting the American Way Flashcards
Isolationist
The view that the country should deliberately avoid a large role in world affairs and instead concentrate on domestic concerns (See also “internationalist.”)
Internationalist
The view that the country should involve itself deeply in world affairs (See also “isolationist.”)
Bipolar
A power structure dominated by two powers only, as in the case of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Cold War
The lengthy period after World War II when the United States and the USSR were not engaged in actual combat (a “hot war”) but were nonetheless locked in a state of deep-seated hostility.
Containment
A doctrine, developed after World War II, based on the assumptions that the Soviet Union was an aggressor nation and that only a determined United States could block Soviet territorial ambitions.
Unipolar
A power structure dominated by a single powerful actor, as in the case of the United States after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Multilateralism
The situation in which nations act together in response to problems and crises.
Preemptive war doctrine
The idea, espoused by President George W. Bush, that the United States could attack a potentially threatening nation even if the threat had not yet reached a serious and immediate level.
Unilateralism
The situation in which one nation takes action against another state or states.
Mutually assured destruction (MAD)
The assumption that any nation will be deterred from launching a full-scale nuclear attack on the United States by the knowledge that, even if it destroyed the United States, it, too, would be destroyed.
Transnational terrorism
Terrorism that transcends national borders and often targets people and locations other than the ones directly at issue.
Military-industrial complex
The three components (the military establishment, the industries that manufacture weapons, and the members of Congress from states and districts that depend heavily on the arms industry) that mutually benefit from a high level of defense spending.
Economic globalization
The increased interdependence of nations’ economies. The change is a result of technological, transportation, and communication advances that have enabled firms to deploy their resources across the globe.
Tariffs
The taxes that a country levies on goods shipped into it from other countries.
Free trade
The condition in which tariffs and other barriers to trade between nations are kept to a minimum.
