Midterm 1 Study Guide Flashcards
Strategy of distancing oneself from other states’ affairs. Best describes American foreign policy throughout most of its history. Adopted primarily out of principle and pragmatism at first.
Isolationism
Named after President James Monroe. Implored an end to European interference in the Americas. In return, America pledged not to interfere in European affairs.
Monroe Doctrine
Concerns the distribution of power between states. A critical component of realist foreign policy. States ought to ensure one state cannot leverage its power to dominate all others.
Balance of Power
Signed into law before America entered WWII. Allowed the country to lend or lease resources to countries considered vital to national defense. The Soviets received most of this aid.
Lend-Lease Act
Former Secretary of State. Served under President Truman. Helped shape the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.
Dean G. Acheson
Introduced after WWII. Named after Secretary of State George Marshall. Objective was to rebuild the economies of primarily western European states battered by the war.
Marshall Plan
Political and military alliance. Short for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Consists primarily of Western states in North America and Europe.
NATO
Named after President Harry Truman. Sought to contain the spread of communism. Justified plans to aid countries after WWII to build goodwill.
Truman Doctrine
A report created by the U.S. National Security Council. Outlined fundamental differences between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Among other things, recommended a massive weapons buildup to counter Soviet military might.
NSC-68
Bipartisan agreements on American foreign policy goals. Favored a liberal internationalist world order. Sought to contain the spread of communism.
Cold War “Consensus”
Foreign policy strategy where parties push conflicts to the brink of conflict. Seek to gain leverage in negotiations. Championed by the Eisenhower administration.
Brinksmanship
Former Secretary of State. Served under President Eisenhower. Championed brinksmanship.
John Foster Dulles
Created by the Soviet Union. Launched in October 1957. Evoked American anxiety of Soviety military superiority, sparking the Space Race.
Sputnik
Championed by the Eisenhower administration. Concerned escalation of conflict, from covert operations to thermonuclear weapons. Little in the middle due in part to fiscal conservatism.
New Look
Championed by the Kennedy administration. Concerned escalation of conflict. Had far more rungs than Eisenhower’s New Look due in part to fiscal liberalism.
Flexible Response
Former Secretary of Defense. Served under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Instrumental in developing the strategy of flexible response.
Robert S. McNamara
Attempted invasion of Cuba and ouster of Castro. U.S. offered to support Cuban nationals as they engaged Castro’s forces. Ultimately failed and served to embarass Kennedy.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Passed by Congress in August 1964. Followed North Vietnamese attacks on American destroyers. Authorized President Johnson to send further troops to Vietnam.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Former Secretary of Defense and later State. Served under President Nixon. Championed realist foreign policy linkage.
Henry A. Kissinger
Short for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Held between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Included military (ex: Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty) and nonmilitary agreements (i.e., cultural arrangements)
SALT I
Former Secretary of State. Served under President Nixon. Largely overshadowed and later replaced by Kissinger.
William P. Rogers
Agreed to by various eastern and western European countries, the U.S., and Canada. Sought to reduce military tension, expand economic cooperation, and foster closer social interactions. Served more so as a statement than a binding treaty.
Helsinki Accords
Agreed to by the U.S. and China. Result of Nixon’s 1972 visit to Shanghai. Reflected differing worldviews and identified areas for global cooperation.
Shanghai Communique
Conflict between Israel and the Arab states. Israel won due in no small part to American aid. Following the war, Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy led to disengagement in the region.
Yom Kippur War
Agreement between Egypt and Israel. Negotiations occured on American soil at Camp David. Proposed a framework for peace in the Middle East.
Camp David Accords
Relaxation of tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Began primarily after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Viewed as morally bankrupt by conservatives.
Detente
A key component of the Nixon-Kissinger system. Behavior in one foreign policy arena influenced behavior in another. Did not concern domestic politics, however.
Linkage
Freedoms entitled to all, regardless of their differences. Championed by the Carter administration. Curtailed by the Bush (43) administration in the aftermath of 9/11 for “national security.”
Human Rights
Championed by President Carter. Warned against outside interference in the Persian Gulf. Considered an assault on vital American interests.
Carter Doctrine
One of the Four Pillars of Reagan’s foreign policy. If the Soviets treat us well, we’ll treat them well, and vice versa. Inspired by but less sophisticated than Kissinger’s linkage.
Reciprocity
Former Secretary of State. Served under President Reagan. Argued linkage must be more flexible.
George P. Shultz
A controversy that occurred during the Reagan presidency. The administration sold weapons to Iran. It then used the profits of those sales to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.
Iran-Contra Affair
A component of Reagan’s foreign policy. Practiced with regard to South Africa. Revolved around inspiring confidence in American support then influencing apartheid policy changes.
Constructive Engagement
Former president of the Soviet Union. Championed glasnost and perestroika. Oversaw the Soviet Union’s dissolution in the early nineties.
Mikhail Gorbachev
A component of Soviet domestic and foreign policy. Championed by Gorbachev. Reflected a movement toward greater democratization.
Glasnost
A component of Soviet domestic and foreign policy. Championed by Gorbachev. Reflected efforts to improve the Soviet economy.
Perestroika
Former Secretary of State. Served under President Bush (41). Visited former Soviet states to normalize relations following the Soviet Union’s collapse.
James Baker
A U.S. military operation in Panama. Aimed to remove Gen. Manuel Noriega from power. Resulted in Noriega’s arrest on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
Operation Just Cause
Panamaian military general. De-facto ruler of Panama throughout the eighties. Removed from power and arrested by the U.S.
Manuel Noriega
A massacre perpetuated by the Chinese government. Targeted pro-democracy demonstrators. Publicly condemned by the U.S.
Tiananmen Square
An African country. Suffered from mass starvation. Received humanitarian assistance from a UN mission led by the U.S.
Somalia
