AP World History - Chapter 26

Ronald Reagan

40th President of the United States, who served from 1981 to 1989; noted for anti-communism

Mikhail S. Gorbachev

Soviet politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, when the Soviet Uniton dissolved

Leszek Kolakowski

Polish intellectual who believed communist governments of the Soviet Union lacked legitimacy

Lech Walesa

leader of the Polish Solidarity movement; became president of Poland

Todor Zhivkov

communist dictator in Bulgaria; forced to resign

Nicolae Ceausescu

dictator of Romania; refused to acknowledge need for reform; killed by police

perestroika

“restructuring;” a Russian term associated with Gorbachev’s effort to reorganize the Soviet state

glasnost

Russian term meaning “openness” introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 to describe the process of opening Soviet society to dissidents and public criticism

mujahideen

“Islamic warriors;” a group who fought against Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979; supplied and trained by United States CIA operatives, which helped lead to a Soviet withdrawal in 1989

Bush Doctrine

set of policies during the administration of president George W. Bush that advocated pre-emptive strikes by the United States against potential enemies instead of containment or deterrence