OTHER TERMS (MIDTERM #2) Flashcards
(35 cards)
Arms Race
A competition between nations for superiority in the development and accumulation of weapons, especially between the U.S. and the former USSR during the Cold War
Balance of Terror
A situation in which two or more countries use the threat of nuclear weapons to deter conflicts
Baruch Plan
Proposed that the United States reduce its atomic arsenal by carefully defined stages linked to the degree of international agreement on control
Berlin Blockade
The first physical confrontation of the Cold War, taking place in 1948–1949, in which Stalin blocked the land routes into Berlin
Containment
A geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II
Decolonization
Process by which colonies become independent of the colonizing country
Detente
A period of general easing of geopolitical tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War
Domino Theory
When one nation falls to communism the impact is such as to weaken the resistance of other countries and facilitate, if not cause, their fall to communism
Escalation Dominance
Ability to escalate a conflict in ways. that will be disadvantageous or costly. to the adversary
Extended Deterrence
A commitment to deter and, if necessary, to respond across the spectrum of potential nuclear and non-nuclear scenarios in defense of allies and partners
Freedom Fighters
A person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority
First-Strike Capability
Attack on an enemy’s nuclear arsenal that effectively prevents retaliation against the attacker
Historical Revisionism
Any reinterpretation of recorded history, but whether this practice is beneficial, harmful, or somewhere in between is hotly contested
Iron Curtain
A metaphor for the extreme political and ideological division that separated Western Europe from the Soviet Union and its satellite states in the east.
Long Telegram
It gave rise to the policy of containment—keeping communism within its present territory through the use of diplomatic, economic, and military actions
Marshall Plan
The Western plan to rebuild Germany and the rest of Europe after World War II
Massive Retaliation
A military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack
Maximum Deterrence
A strategy that relies on many nuclear weapons to deter both conventional and limited nuclear attacks
Minimum Deterrence
A strategy of deterrence that relies on a few nuclear weapons to retaliate and inflict unacceptable damage on the adversary
Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
The nuclear deterrence strategy that called for the dominance of offensive over defensive weapons
Mutually Assured Protection (MAP)
The nuclear strategy, proposed by Reagan, to build up defensive systems and reduce offensive weapons
New Thinking
Its major elements were de-ideologization of international politics, abandoning the concept of class struggle, priority of universal human interests over the interests of any class, increasing interdependence of the world, and mutual security based on political rather than military instruments
Non-aligned Movement
Goals were cooperation, neutrality , and self determination. During the Cold War, NAM worked to end colonialism and attempted for countries to not get involved on either side in the Cold War
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
A military alliance originally established in 1949 to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern Europe after World War II. When the Cold War ended, NATO was reconceived as a “cooperative-security” organization
