Cold War and Modern Global History Flashcards

These vocabulary flashcards cover major foreign policy doctrines, geopolitical definitions, key historical figures, and significant global conflicts from the Cold War to the modern War on Terror.

Containment

The US Cold War foreign policy operating on the principle that communist governments would eventually fall apart if they were prevented from expanding their influence.

Domino Theory

The belief that if one nation fell to communism, neighboring nations would inevitably fall as well, like a row of dominoes; heavily used to justify US intervention in Vietnam.

Détente

A period of eased relations and strained tensions between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, primarily in the 1970s.

Partition

The geopolitical division of a single geographic territory into separate sovereign states, such as the 1947 division of British India.

Segregation

The systemic, legal, or social separation of people based on race or ethnic groups, prominent in the US Jim Crow South.

Proxy War

A war instigated by major powers that do not themselves directly fight in it, instead using third parties to do the fighting on their behalf, such as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Hard Power

Coercive power backed by economic sanctions or military force.

Soft Power

The ability to co-opt and attract rather than coerce, using culture, political values, and foreign aid.

Unilateralism

A foreign policy strategy where a country acts alone without the explicit consent or alliance of others.

Multilateralism

A strategy where multiple countries work together to solve global issues while acting via organizations like the UN or NATO.

Realism

A school of thought holding that international relations are driven by national self-interest and the pursuit of power and security.

Idealism

The belief that foreign policy should be guided by moral values, human rights, and international cooperation.

Marshall Plan

A 1948 initiative by US Secretary of State George Marshall to rebuild war-torn European economies after WWII to stop the appeal of communism.

McCarthyism

A period of intense political repression and unsubstantiated accusations of communist subversion in the US, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the late 1940s and 1950s.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

Formed in 1949 as a mutual defense alliance between the US, Canada, and Western European nations to deter Soviet aggression.

Iron Curtain Speech

Delivered by Winston Churchill in 1946, declaring that a division had descended across Europe, separating the democratic West from the communist East.

Berlin Wall

Built by communist East Germany in 1961 to prevent citizens from fleeing to West Berlin; it stood as a symbol of the Cold War until 1989.

Soviets in Afghanistan

A 1979 invasion by the USSR to support a communist regime; the US backed the Mujahideen, resulting in a drain on the Soviet economy often called their "Vietnam War."

People's Republic of China (PRC)

The communist state established on the Chinese mainland by Mao Zedong in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War.

Republic of China (ROC)

The government established on the island of Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists after their defeat in 1949.

Partition of India and Pakistan

The 1947 split of South Asia into majority Hindu India and majority Muslim Pakistan, resulting in violent displacement and a permanent rivalry over Kashmir.

Korean War

A hot military conflict from 1950–1953 that ended in an armistice leaving the peninsula permanently divided at the 38th parallel.

Pentagon Papers

Top-secret Department of Defense documents leaked in 1971 revealing the US government had systematically lied to the public and Congress about the Vietnam War.

Agent Orange

A chemical defoliant sprayed by the US during the Vietnam War that caused generational health issues and birth defects.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A October 1962 confrontation between the US and USSR over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba; settled by a naval quarantine and a mutual agreement to remove missiles.

1953 Iranian Coup

The orchestration by the CIA and UK to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh after he nationalized Iran's oil, restoring the pro-Western Shah.

1979 Iranian Revolution

An uprising against the Shah's rule led by Ayatollah Khomeini, establishing an anti-American Islamic theocracy.

The Gulf War (1990-1991)

A US-led, UN-sanctioned coalition (Operation Desert Storm) launched to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait after they were invaded by Saddam Hussein.

2003 Invasion of Iraq

A US-launched invasion based on the false premise that Saddam Hussein possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and had ties to terrorism.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

A landmark Supreme Court ruling that declared "separate but equal" public schools unconstitutional, legally ending racial segregation in education.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legislation that banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public accommodations and employment.

Al Qaeda

The Pan-Islamic militant organization founded by Osama bin Laden that was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

ISIS (Islamic State)

A radical Sunni extremist group that splintered from Al Qaeda in Iraq and seized large territories in Iraq and Syria in the mid-2010s.

Hezbollah

A Shia Islamist militant group and political party based in Lebanon, heavily backed by Iran.

Mikhail Gorbachev

The final leader of the USSR whose policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Guantanamo Bay

A piece of land in Cuba leased by the US that contains a controversial military prison used to hold post-9/11 terror suspects outside US judicial jurisdiction.