Geopolitics and World History Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering key geopolitical terms, historical figures, geography, and international relations theories.

Ibn Battuta

A Moroccan figure recognized as the world's greatest traveler.

GDP per capita

Gross Domestic Product per person; estimates average economic output/income per person and is commonly used to compare living standards between countries.

Developed countries

Countries that generally possess high incomes, strong infrastructure, high levels of education, advanced industries/services, and high life expectancy.

Developing countries

Countries that generally possess lower average incomes, less-developed infrastructure, higher poverty rates, lower average life expectancy, and economies heavily reliant on agriculture or natural resources.

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

An economic metric that compares what money can actually buy in different countries.

Strait of Hormuz

The narrow waterway between Iran and Oman connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, critical to global energy security because a very large share of world oil and LNG exports passes through it.

Drones

Unmanned aircraft controlled remotely or operating autonomously that allow weaker states and non-state groups to conduct relatively inexpensive military attacks.

Regime type

The classification of whether a country is a democracy or a non-democracy.

Resolve

The determination or willingness of a state or leader to pursue a goal despite costs or risks.

Ho Chi Minh

Vietnamese revolutionary leader (1890–1969) who led North Vietnam during much of the Vietnam War and served as the central figure of Vietnamese communism and independence.

Military power

A state's ability to use armed force to defend its interests or influence other states.

U.S. and Chinese military bases

A comparison of overseas military presence: the U.S. has 750-1000 military bases worldwide, whereas China has only 3.

Himalayan mountains

The geographic feature credited with preventing war between China and India.

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

An invasion in December 1979 to support the communist Afghan government, resulting in a war against the Afghan mujahideen that lasted until the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

Diversionary war

A theory arguing that leaders may initiate or escalate international conflict to distract the population from internal domestic problems like economic crises or political instability.

Pakistani identity

A religious and national identity built around South Asian Muslims as a distinct political community, shaped by Islam, British colonial rule, opposition to perceived Hindu-majority domination, and Partition in 1947.

Graveyard of empires

A phrase referring to Afghanistan due to the historical difficulty powerful foreign states—such as the British Empire, Soviet Union, and United States—face when trying to control it.

Nuclear-weapon states

As of 2026, the nine recognized states possessing nuclear weapons: United States, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.

Partition of India and Pakistan

The 1947 division creating Pakistan as a Muslim homeland, which triggered massive religious violence and one of history's largest forced migrations, displacing 14–18 million people.

Kautilya

An ancient Indian political thinker and adviser (also known as Chanakya) to the Mauryan ruler Chandragupta Maurya, whose focus on practical power politics leads to comparisons with Niccolò Machiavelli.

Arthashastra

An ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy, diplomacy, espionage, and military strategy emphasizing pragmatic state security.

Kautilya's thoughts on women

The view within Kautilya's political strategy that women can be utilized as spies and weapons.