MONKEYS UNITE

Anti-Apartheid Movement

a British organization at the center of the international movement opposing South Africa's system of apartheid by supporting South Africa's non-whites - it cooperated with the U.N. in creating sanctions against apartheid South Africa and built support for ending the practice

Cold War

Political and ideological state of near-war between the Western World and the communist world that lasted from 1946 to 1991, leading to an arms race, incl. nuclear weapons, and political tensions between the U.S. and its NATO allies and the U.S.S.R and its Warsaw Pact allies, as well as the space race and proxy wars across the globe, especially in the developing world

Collectivization

the process of rural reform under-taken by the communist leadership of the USSR and China to improve industrialization and agricultural output, leading to abolition of private property, peasants forced onto larger and more industrialized farms to work and share the proceeds as a community rather than as individuals, decreased human rights and the creation of gulags (labor camps) in the USSR.

Communism

Inspired by Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto", this is a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production and all sociopolitical facets of the country "on behalf" of the previously exploited lower classes, inspiring the Russian Revolution which overthrew the Czar, and spread to China and elsewhere, leading to competition between democratic Western nations and communist Eastern nations known as the Cold War

Cultural Revolution

movement starting in 1966 by Mao Zedong in order to seek out and silence opposition to Mao's leadership and his vision of communism; China's intellectual elite were heavily persecuted; millions of people were publicly humiliated, jailed, or killed; contributed to the increased instability in the nation and discouraged China from advancing socially or economically

Fundamentalism

a self-proclaimed return to the "fundamentals" of a religion and is marked by militant piety and exclusivism, it occurs within all the major world religions, and has created hostilities and even political action against some groups; Al-Qaeda is an example of a fundamentalist group

Glasnost

Gorbachev's policy of "openness", which allowed greater cultural and intellectual freedom and ended most censorship of the media within the USSR, resulted in a burst of awareness of the problems and corruption of the Soviet system, and eventually led to the end of the Cold War and downfall of the Soviet Union

Great Leap Forward

major Chinese initiative led by Mao Zedong intended to promote small-scale industrialization and increase knowledge of technology and though it increased industrial output, in reality it caused a major crisis and made a devastating famine worse

Indian National Congress (INC)

Organization established in 1885 by Western-educated elite Indians in an effort to win a voice in the governance of India and became a major popular movement after World War I that won India's independence from Britain

India/Pakistan Partition

as per the Indian Independence Act of 1947, British India was divided into two new nations as the British left but it displaced over 14 million people along religious lines, and created a refugee crisis in both India and Pakistan - to date boundary disputes between the two countries have caused wars and continuing hostility and tension

Military Industrial Complex

term used by President Eisenhower in the 1950s to warn the US against excessive military spending in the quest for military buildup as a response to the growing influence of Communism and the Soviet Union - but the result was increasing tension and escalation of hostilities as seen in the proxy wars fought during the Cold war - the U.S. is now the largest military industrial complex, leading the world in military spending

Muslim League

created in 1906 as a response to the growing power of the Indian National Congress in the fight for independence - many South Asian Muslims wanted an organization that would successfully advocate for the creation of a separate state for Muslims called Pakistan

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

An alliance formed in 1949 among the US, Canada, and most of the states of Western Europe in response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance requires the members to consider an attack on any one of them as an attack on all.

Non-Aligned Movement

promised an alternative to politically allying with U.S. or the Soviet Union during the Cold War but pitted one side against another in an effort to gain the most economic aid for their country

Nuclear Proliferation

the spread of nuclear weapons, technology and information to nations not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; proliferation has been opposed by many nations with and without nuclear weapons, as governments fear that more countries with nuclear weapons will increase the possibility of nuclear warfare, de-stabilize international or regional relations, or infringe upon the national sovereignty of states.

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)

Organization created in 1964 under the leadership of Yasser Arafat to champion Palestinian rights; it's importance increased in the aftermath of the defeat suffered by the Arab states in the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War, after which it declared armed struggle (including violence against civilians) was necessary to liberate Palestine, thus paving the way for radical groups to join the fight

Pan-Arabism and Pan-Africanism

nationalist movements seeking to eliminate foreign influence and align cultural and political unification in Africa and Arab nations, eventually leading to the creation of many new nations who pitted the US and Soviet Union against each other to gain economic aid to better their country

Perestroika

bold economic program launched by Gorbachev to reform the communist economy and allow some freedoms to Soviet industry and businesses but it ultimately led to the rise of capitalism in the USSR and the eventual downfall of the Soviet state

Proxy Wars

wars instigated by a major power that does not itself become involved, but heavily influences one side in their own self-interest - these increased during the Cold War, as the U.S. and the USSR influenced foreign wars for their own interests, such as spreading communism (or preventing its spread); examples include the Korean War, Vietnam War, Soviet-Afghan War and even the modern Syrian Civil War

Satyagraha Movement

Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violent political action against British rule, which went on to influence future non-violent movements, including the American Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr's political philosophy

Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989)

proxy war that resulted from the rise of a communist party in Afghanistan whose policies were in direct opposition to Muslim beliefs and led to local resistance, leading to the Soviet Union invading to install a communist president to gain control of the country - this led to a nine year war in which western nations, including the U.S. sided with (and funded) the Islamic warriors but the resulting post-war political instability in Afghanistan allowed the Taliban to rise to power

Warsaw Pact (1955)

An agreement signed between the Soviet Union and a host of other Eastern European nations, setting up a communistic military counterweight to NATO in the West; opposed the spread of western capitalism and democracy

White Revolution in Iran (1963)

was a far-reaching series of reforms in Iran launched in 1963 by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which lasted until 1979; his efforts of modernization of Iran's economy, infrastructure and cultural aspects including irrigation projects, land reform, sale of state-run factories, rights for women and development of better healthcare led to the increased productivity of Iran's economy; led to increased tensions with clergy and peasants in Iran, which would eventually lead to the Shah's downfall in the Iranian Revolution of 1979

European Economic Community (EEC)

regional trade agreement founded in 1957 with the goal to dissolve tariffs in Europe and increase free trade, create a common currency across Europe, and work in conjunction with the European Union, which lead to increased economic prosperity in Europe post-WWII

European Union (EU)

the final step in a series of arrangements that started after WWII to increase cooperation between European states through the formation of a cooperation of European countries to address political and socioeconomic issues, eventually leading to the creation of a common currency, the Euro, and allowed for reduced/eliminated travel and trade barriers across the continent; recently, Great Britain voted to leave the union (Brexit)

Green Revolution

also known as the "Third Agricultural Revolution", it was a set of research technology transfer initiatives occurring between 1950 and the late 1960s, that increased agricultural production worldwide, particularly in the developing world; the initiatives resulted in the adoption of new technologies, including high-yielding varieties of grains, in association with chemical fertilizers and agro-chemicals, and with controlled water-supply and new methods of cultivation; these led to a rapid increase in population in developing Asian countries

Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming

an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to slow global warming - this was signed by 174 countries as of November 2007 but not the USA, which caused international tensions

Liberation Theology

Roman Catholic movement, that is particularly active in Latin America, which argues that Christians need to engage in the pursuit of social justice and human rights

Negritude Movement

grassroots movement that strove to revive African culture and traditions as expressed by poets and artists, this led to Pan-African movements and nationalist movements to remove foreign European influence and anti-colonial movements

Neoliberalism

an economic and political worldview developed in the 1970s that sees the free market as the main mechanism for ensuring economic growth, with a severely restricted role for government (including reduced tariffs) - it was especially advocated by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and has been held responsible for the growing disparity between the rich and the poor as well as the Recession of 2008

Pacific Rim Economies

the geographic area surrounding the Pacific Ocean which contains countries that rapidly industrialized and modernized after decolonization (i.e. Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) and became a hotbed of technological innovation and export and key players in globalization

Second Wave Feminism

women's rights movement that revived in the 1960s with a different agenda than earlier women's suffrage movements, which included equal rights for women in employment and education, women's right to control their bodies, and the end of patriarchal domination

United Nations (UN)

an international organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security to prevent another World War in the future, it's effectiveness was tested in the forthcoming Cold War era and beyond - it also provides humanitarian assistance around the world to areas in need through a variety of organizations that work to facilitate international cooperation.

World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO)

is a global association of 401 organizations who are committed to improving the livelihoods of economically marginalized producers; its goals include creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers, develop producers independence, fair pricing, gender equity, safe working environments and practices