Global History and 21st-Century Challenges Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Indian Independence, Communist China, the Cold War, modern geopolitical challenges, sustainability, technology, and global leadership roles as outlined in the lecture notes.

Mohandas K. Gandhi

A major leader of the Indian independence movement who used nonviolent resistance to free India from British rule.

Jawaharlal Nehru

The first Prime Minister of independent India and a close ally of Gandhi who focused on modernizing the nation.

Amritsar Massacre

A British officer ordered Indian troops to fire into a crowd gathered for a religious ceremony.

Hind Swaraj

A book written by Gandhi that outlines his philosophy of Indian self-rule and total independence from western civilization.

Dalits

The lowest group in India's traditional caste system, historically treated as "untouchables," whom Gandhi called Harijans (children of God).

Ahimsa

The ancient religious principle of complete nonviolence toward all living things, which guided Gandhi's philosophy.

Satyagraha

Gandhi's method of nonviolent peace resistance, which translates directly to "truth-force."

Mahatma

"Great Soul" which was what Gandhi was called.

Civil disobedience

The deliberate, public, and peaceful refusal to obey an unjust law as a way to force political change.

Muslim League

They feared that under Indian self-rule they would be oppressed by a Hindu majority, so they began to call for a creation of a separate Muslim state called Pakistan.

Mao Zedong

The leader of the Chinese Communist Party who established the People's Republic of China in $1949$.

Chiang Kai-shek

The leader of the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) who fought against the Communists and later fled to Taiwan.

Indoctrinated

Being thoroughly taught to accept a specific set of political beliefs or ideas without ever questioning them.

Great Leap Forward

Peasants were organized into people’s communes, which combined a number of collective farms, in order to stimulate rapid industrialization.

Cultural Revolution

Mao organized people into militant groups that he used to attack his enemies in the Communist Party.

Red Guard

Militant groups who were taught that Mao was the source of all wisdom.

Revisionist

A term used by strict Marxists to describe communists who alter core beliefs to fit modern or practical situations.

Iron Curtain

Churchill’s name for the division of Europe into Communist and Democratic.

Marshall Plan

A massive U.S. financial aid program designed to rebuild European economies after WWII and stop the spread of communism.

Truman Doctrine

A U.S. foreign policy promising military and economic aid to any country threatened by communist takeovers.

Cold War

Struggle of U.S. and Soviet Union using means short of war.

NATO

A defensive military alliance formed by the United States, Canada, and Western European nations to protect against Soviet aggression.

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance formed by the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite nations in response to NATO.

Insolvency

A financial state where a country or institution is completely broke and cannot pay its debts.

Satellite states

Countries that are technically independent but are actually under the strict political and economic control of a more powerful nation.

Domino effect

The political theory that if one nation in a region falls to communism, nearby nations will quickly fall as well.

Containment Policy

The main U.S. Cold War strategy focused entirely on stopping communism from spreading into new territories.

Soviet Bloc

The collective group of communist nations in Eastern Europe that were tied directly to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

What the Eisenhower administration created in response to the Soviets launching Sputnik $1$.

United Nations (UN)

International organization where all members are represented in the General Assembly, with $11$ on the Security Council, and $5$ permanent members having Security Council veto power.

Proxy Wars

One or both sides are supported by, and serve the interests of another country.

Third World

Developing nations; often newly independent, nonaligned.

Nonaligned nations

Independent countries that want to avoid involvement in the Cold War.

Politburo

The ruling committee of the Communist Party; rules U.S.S.R. harshly.

Michael Gorbachev

Soviet leader who achieves economic reforms.

Boris Yeltsin

Rallies people against Communist old guard.

Omar al-Bashir

President of Sudan.

Genocide in Darfur

Event for which Sudan’s president was indicted by the International Court, though he remained in power until he was ousted.

Abiy Ahmed

Prime Minister of Ethiopia who makes it become a beacon of democracy.

Populism

Movement that claims to represent the ordinary people over the established elite.

Volodymyr Zelensky

The current President of Ukraine who became a global symbol of resistance during the Russian invasion.

Kim Jong-un

The absolute dictator of North Korea known for his repressive rule and dangerous nuclear weapons programs.

Vladimir Putin

The long-time President of Russia who has restricted domestic freedoms and launched military expansions into neighboring nations.

Brexit

The historic political process that concluded with the United Kingdom officially leaving the European Union.

Donald Trump

The $45\text{th}$ and $47\text{th}$ President of the United States known for his populist political movement and "America First" foreign policies.

Civil liberties

The basic individual rights and personal freedoms protected by law from government interference.

Religiosity

The degree of a person's or a society's deep religious dedication, practice, and belief.

Fracking

A drilling method that pumps high-pressure liquids deep underground to shatter rock formations and extract oil or natural gas.

Sustainable

Using natural resources in a careful way that meets current needs without destroying or running out of them for future generations.

Geothermal energy

Clean, renewable electricity generated by tapping into the natural heat trapped deep inside the Earth.

Conservation

The conscious effort to protect, manage, and preserve natural environments and wildlife from destruction.

Green building

The practice of constructing structures using eco-friendly materials and energy-saving technologies to reduce pollution.

Connectivity

The level of fast, continuous communication and digital networking linking computers and people across the globe.

Hackers

Tech-savvy individuals who use computers to gain unauthorized, illegal access to private data systems.

Cryptography

The complex practice of writing and solving secure digital codes to keep private information hidden from hackers.

Trolls

People who deliberately post inflammatory or offensive messages online to upset others and disrupt digital conversations.

Climate Change

The long-term alteration of global temperatures and weather patterns driven primarily by human greenhouse gas emissions.

Sahle-Work Zewde

The first female President of Ethiopia who advocated for gender equality and national unity.

Jacinda Ardern

The former Prime Minister of New Zealand praised for her empathetic leadership and swift management of major national crises.

Christine Lagarde

Managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Indra Nooyi

A highly successful business executive who served as the long-time CEO of PepsiCo and championed healthier corporate products.

Tawakkol Karman

Founder of Women Journalists Without Chains and a leader of the Arab Spring in Yemen.

Malala Yousafzai

A Pakistani activist who survived being shot by the Taliban and won the Nobel Peace Prize for defending girls' right to education.

Human Genome Project

A massive, global scientific project that successfully mapped out every single gene in human DNA.

Biotechnology

The biological science field that alters living organisms or cells to manufacture advanced medicines and agricultural products.

Longevity

The ability to live a long, healthy life, which has expanded due to breakthroughs in medicine and sanitation.