OTHER TERMS (MIDTERM #2) Flashcards
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
Nuclear Triad
A three-sided military-force structure consisting of land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-missile-armed submarines, and strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs and missiles
Potsdam Conference
The meeting among wartime allies in July 1945 that produced no agreement on the unification of Germany and other issues
Rollback
The strategy of forcing a change in the major policies of a state, usually by replacing its ruling regime
Second-Strike Capability
The ability, after being struck by a nuclear attack, to strike back with nuclear weapons and cause massive damage to the enemy
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
The space-based antimissile systems that formed the core of Reagan’s program to enhance U.S. missile defenses
Truman Doctrine
The United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces
Warsaw Pact
A collective defense treaty established by the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania
Yalta Conference
A wartime conference held in February 1945 where the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain agreed on the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and postwar occupation of Europe, including a Soviet sphere of influence in eastern Europe
Extended Deterrence
A strategy of deterrence in which one country uses nuclear weapons to deter an attack on the territory of an allied country
Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)
U.S.–Soviet talks held in the 1990s to reduce offensive weapons systems
Spheres of Influence
Areas of contested territory divided up and dominated by great powers, which agree not to interfere in one another’s areas
