proxy wars
During the Cold War, local or regional wars in which the superpowers armed, trained, and financed the combatants.
Salvador Allende
Socialist politician elected president of Chile in 1970 and overthrown by the military in 1973. He died during the military attack. (p. 856)
Dirty War
War waged by the Argentine military (1976-1982) against leftist groups. Characterized by the use of illegal imprisonment, torture, and executions by the military. (p. 857)
Sandinistas
Members of a leftist coalition that overthrew the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Anastasia Somoza in 1979 and attempted to install a socialist economy. The United States financed armed opposition by the Contras. The Sandinistas lost national elections in 1990
neo-liberalism
The term used in Latin America and other developing regions to describe free-market policies that include reducing tariff protection for local industries; the sale of public-sector industries, like national airlines and public utilities, to private invest
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Shi'ite philosopher and cleric who led the overthrow of the shah of Iran in 1979 and created an Islamic republic.
Saddam Husain
President of Iraq since 1979. Waged war on Iran in 1980-1988. In 1990 he ordered an invasion of Kuwait but was defeated by United States and its allies in the Gulf War (1991). (p. 860)
keiretsu
Alliances of corporations and banks that dominate the Japanese economy. (p. 861)
Asian Tigers
Collective name for South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore-nations that became economic powers in the 1970s and 1980s. (p. 861)
newly industrialized economies (NIEs)
Rapidly growing, new industrial nations of the late twentieth century, including the Asian Tigers.
Deng Xiaoping
Communist Party leader who forced Chinese economic reforms after the death of Mao Zedong. (p. 862)
Tiananmen Square
Site in Beijing where Chinese students and workers gathered to demand greater political openness in 1989. The demonstration was crushed by Chinese military with great loss of life.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe. (p. 863)
perestroika
policy of "restructuring" was an attempt to address long-suppressed economic problems by moving away from central state planning toward a more economic system.
solidarity
Polish trade union created in 1980 to protest working conditions and political repression. It began the nationalist opposition to communist rule that led in 1989 to the fall of communism in eastern Europe. (p. 863)
ethnic cleansing
Effort to eradicate a people and its culture by means of mass killing and the destruction of historical buildings and cultural materials. Ethnic cleansing was used by both sides in the conflicts that accompanied the disintegration of Yugoslavia (883)
Thomas Malthus
Eighteenth-century English intellectual who warned that population growth threatened future generations because, in his view, population growth would always outstrip increases in agricultural production. (p. 867)
demographic transition
change in rates of population growth. Before transition, both birth rates and death rates were high, resulting in slowly growing population; then death rate drops, but birthrate rises, causing population explosion; finally, birth rates drops and populatio
globalization
economic, political and cultural integration and interaction of all parts of the world brought about by increased trade, travel and technology.
World Trade Organization
an international body established in 1995 to foster and bring order to international trade
weapons of mass destruction
nuclear, chemical, and biological devices that are capable of injuring and killing large numbers of people
terrorism
Political belief that extreme and seemingly random violence will destabilize a government and permit the terrorists to gain political advantage. Though an old technique, terrorism gained prominence in the late 20th Century with growth of worldwide mass me
Usama bin Laden
Saudi-born Muslim extremist who founded the al-Qaeda organization that was responsible for several terrist attacks, including those on the world trade center and the pentagon in 2001
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
statement of fundamental political rights adopted by French National Assembly at beginning of French Revolution
nongovernmental organizations
Nonprofit international organizations devoted to investigating human rights abuses and providing humanitarian relief. Two NGOs won the Nobel Peace Prize in the 1990s: International Campaign to Ban Landmines (1997) and Doctors Without Borders (1999).
cultural imperialism
Domination of one culture over another by a deliberate policy or by economic or technological superiority. (p. 894)
global pop culture
popular cultural practices and institutions that have been adopted internationally such as music, Internet, television, food and fashion
global elite culture
at beginning of 21c, attitudes and outlook of well-educated, prosperous, western oriented people world, largely expressed in European language, especially English