!

Dtente : an easing of tensions!

!

Chapter 16!

Watergate Scandal : Nixon was forced by the Supreme Court to hand over his tapes of White
House conversations!

Apartheid : system in which laws strictly segregated white citizens from the vast majority of
black South Africans!

OPEC : the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries boycotted the U.S. and other
countries that traded with Israel by raising their oil prices (leading to inflation)!

Helsinki Accords : recognized the existing borders of Europe in an attempt to preserve

peaceful relations between Western and Eastern Europe, pledged respect for human rights!

!
Dissidents : critics of the government!
!

Jimmy Carter :!
- campaign slogan Ill never lie to you!
- believed it was necessary for Americans to take a more moral tone!
- tried to reassert American morality in foreign policy by signing a treaty with Panama!

Camp David Accords : Anwar Sadat of Egypt recognized Israel ; Menachem Begin of Israel
returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt!

Iranian revolution : pro-western Shah fled the country when Ayatollah Khomeini established an
Islamic Republic!

Iran Hostage Crisis : when the Shah sought medical treatment in the U.S., Iranian students
and other followers of Khomeini seized the staff at the U.S. Embassy and held them as
hostages!

!
Terrorism : terrorists use acts of violence to attract media attention or coerce governments!
!

Ronald Reagan : pledged to take tough action to improve conditions for Americans both at
home and abroad!

Reagan Doctrine : rather than just contain communism, Reagan wanted to roll Communism
back by sending assistance to anti-Communist fighters !

Iran-Contra affair : some U.S. officials secretly sold arms to Iran (in war with Iraq) for freeing
American hostages in Lebanon ; money received from Iran was secretly given to antiCommunist Contras in Nicaragua!

Glasnost (openness) : people would be able for the first time to criticize the Soviet government
and make suggestions without fear!

Perestroika (restructuring) : Gorbachev introduced limited free enterprise into the Soviet
economy!

!
George H.W. Bush : proved willing to use military power to further American interests!
!

Saddam Hussein : Iraqi dictator who invaded Kuwait, a small neighboring country with vast oil
reserves!

Persian Gulf War : George H.W. Bush sent U.S. troops into Kuwait, where they defeated Iraqi
forces!

!
Bill Clinton : closed military bases and reduced U.S. military expenditures (peace dividend)!
!

Bosnia and Kosovo : Christian Serbs attempted to kill Muslims in parts of Bosnia and Kosovo
in a policy of genocide known as ethnic cleansing!

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) : agreement with Canada and Mexico to create
a trade association that would rival the European Common Market!

World Trade Organization : created to help oversee international trade and settle trade
disputes!

Election of 2000 : one of the closest contests in American history, Al Gore demanded a recount
because of inconsistencies in the voting in some districts but was stopped in Bush v. Gore!

Al-Qaeda : terrorist organization founded by Islamic Fundamentalists in Saudi Arabia that

opposed Western influence and resented the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia!

!
Jihad : holy war against the United Sates!
!

September 11, 2001 : al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked commercial planes and crushed them into
the World Trade Center and Pentagon!

!
George W. Bush : declared a War on Terror!
!
Taliban : Islamic Fundamentalist government ruling Afghanistan !
!
Osama bin Laden : Al-Qaeda leader!
!

Iraq war : fearing Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction, Bush ordered an
invasion of Iraq!

Barack Obama : attempted to build stronger ties with other world leaders by taking a more
collaborative approach