U.S. FOREIGN POLICY 1963-1989
1. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: PRESIDENT LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON (LBJ)
ORDERED US TROOPS INTO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN 1965 TO PREVENT
A "COMMUNIST" FROM TAKING OVER. U.S. TROOPS STAYED FOR A YEAR
2. KHMER ROUGE:
COMMUNIST WHO TOOK OVER CAMBODIA AND
MURDERED OVER A MILLION OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE. THEIR RULE ENDED IN
1979 WHEN VIETNAM INVADED AND ENDED THE KHMER ROUGE RULE.
3. WAR POWERS ACT: PASSED OVER NIXON’S VETO AIMED TO PREVENT
FUTURE WARS FROM STARTING WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT
4. STABLE WORLD ORDER: NIXON HOPED THAT 5 POWER CENTERS, US,
USSR, CHINA, JAPAN AND EUROPE COULD MAINTAIN WORLD PEACE
5. HENRY KISSINGER : NIXON TRUSTED FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER WHO
INFLUENCE NIXON FOREIGN POLICY
6. REAL POLITIK: FOREIGN POLICY SHOULD BE BASED ON CONSIDERATIONS
OF POWER NOT IDEALS OR MORALS OR PRINCIPLES, HOW KISSINGER
BELIEVED THE US SHOULD CONDUCT FOREIGN POLICY
7. MAO ZEDONG: LEADER OF COMMUNIST CHINA WHO LED THE SUCCESSFUL
COMMUNIST TAKEOVER IN 1948
8. TAIWAN: ISLAND NATION RULED BY CHINESE WHO FLED FROM MAINLAND
CHINA WHEN THE REDS TOOK OVER IN 1948 AND PROTECTED BY THE USA WE
HAD TO PLEDGE TO REMOVE OUR TROOPS FROM TAIWAN IF WE WANTED
NORMAL RELATIONS WITH CHINA
9. CHINA BREAKTHROUGH: US AND CHINA HAD BEEN ENEMIES SINCE THE
REDS TOOK OVER IN 1948, BUT NIXON, A WELL KNOWN ANTI-COMMUNIST,
NORMALIZED RELATIONS WITH CHINA IN 1972
10. SALT: STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATION TALKS, AGREEMENT BETWEEN US AND
USSR AGREEING TO LIMIT THE PRODUCTION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN 1972
11. FOOD SALES: US AGREED TO SELL USSR SURPLUS GRAIN TO FEED THEIR
HUNGRY PEOPLE IN 1972
12. DÉTENTE: A FRENCH TERM MEANING "RELAXATION OF TENSIONS" A PERIOD
OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE US AND USSR THAT LESSENED THE FEAR OF
A NUCLEAR WAR
13. THIRD WORLD: NON ALIGNED NATIONS WHERE THE COLD WAR RAGED
MORE STRONGLY THEN EVER WITH USSR AND US BACKING DIFFERENT SIDES
14. CHILE: GIANT AMERICAN CORPORATIONS DID NOT LIKE THE ELECTED
SOCIALIST PRESIDENT SALVADOR ALLENDE AND HAD NIXON OVERTHROW
HIS GOVERNMENT AND HAVE HIM MURDERED IN 1973 AND PUT IN A
GOVERNMENT OF ARMY OFFICERS THAT WERE PRO US
15. YOM KIPPUR WAR: 1973 ARAB -ISRAELI WAR WHERE ARABS DID A SNEAK
ATTACK ON ISRAEL WHO THEN COUNTERATTACKED, US AND RUSSIA ALMOST
WENT TO WAR
16. OIL EMBARGO: TO PUNISH THE US FOR SUPPORTING ISRAEL IN THE WAR
ARABS NATIONS STOPPED SELLING OIL TO US CAUSING LONG LINES FOR GAS
IN THE US IN 1973-74
17. MAYAGUEZ: AMERICAN MERCHANT SHIP WAS SEIZED BY CAMBODIAN
COMMUNISTS IN MAY OF 1975, FORD ORDERED THE MARINES TO FREE THE
SAILORS EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD ALREADY BEEN FREED
18. DÉTENTE: THE POLICY OF IMPROVED RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EAST AND
WEST, FORD BACKED AWAY FROM THIS DUE TO OPPOSITION FROM
CONSERVATIVES IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
19. PANAMA CANAL TREATY: 1977, PRESIDENT CARTER NEGOTIATED A SET OF
TREATY AGREEMENTS THAT WOULD GRADUALLY GIVE CONTROL OF THE
CANAL ZONE TO PANAMA, EVEN THOUGH THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS
OPPOSED THE GIVE AWAY
20. ANWAR SADAT: PRESIDENT OF EGYPT WHO VISITED ISRAEL IN 1977, WHICH
STUNNED THE WHOLE WORLD BECAUSE EGYPT AND ISRAEL HAD BEEN
ENEMIES SINCE 1948
21. MENACHEM BEGIN: PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL WHO RESPONDED TO
SADAT'S VISIT BY CALLING FOR A PEACE TREATY BETWEEN THE TWO
NATIONS
22. CAMP DAVID ACCORDS: PEACE TREATY BETWEEN ISRAEL AND EGYPT,
ISRAEL AGREED TO WITHDRAW FROM CAPTURED EGYPTIAN LAND (1967) AND
EGYPT FORMALLY RECOGNIZED ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO EXIST
23. NEUTRON BOMB: CARTER STOPPED DEVELOPMENT ON THIS WEAPON WHICH
WAS DESIGNED TO KILL PEOPLE BUT NOT DESTROY PROPERTY
24. SALT II: STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATION TREATY, AGREEMENT BETWEEN US
AND USSR THAT PLACED NEW LIMITS ON THE NUCLEAR STRENGTH OF THE
SUPERPOWERS, IT WAS NOT RATIFIED BY THE SENATE
25. DETERRENCE: THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR THROUGH THE THREAT OF
RETALIATION, NO ONE WOULD ATTACK US BECAUSE THEY WOULD
EVENTUALLY BE DESTROYED (MAD: MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION)
26. AFGHANISTAN: IN 1979 THE USSR INVADED THIS NATION TO PROP UP A
COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT, THIS ANGERED THE US AND OTHERS
27. MOSCOW OLYMPICS: THE US AND SEVERAL OTHER NATIONS BOYCOTTED
THE 1980 OLYMPICS TO PROTEST THE USSR INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN
28. SHAH REZA PAHLAVI: THE RULER OF IRAN WHO WAS A GREAT FRIEND OF
THE U.S. HE WAS FORCED OUT OF POWER IN A 1979 REVOLUTION
29. AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI: AN ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST WHO SEIZED
CONTROL OF IRAN AFTER THE SHAH WAS KICKED OUT AND RETURNED IRAN
TO A MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC STATE EXECUTING THOUSANDS
30. HOSTAGE CRISIS: WHEN THE SHAH CAME TO THE US FOR CANCER
TREATMENT IN 1979 IRANIAN REVOLUTIONARIES SEIZED THE AMERICAN
EMBASSY IN TEHRAN AND CAPTURED 52 AMERICANS AS HOSTAGES UNTIL
CARTER RETURNED THE SHAH , THEY WERE NOT RETURNED UNTIL REAGAN
WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT IN 1981
31. THE HOSTAGES ARE HOME: JAN 28, 1981 U.S. HOSTAGES HELD BY
IRANIANS FOR 444 DAYS WERE FREED JUST WHEN REAGAN BECAME
PRESIDENT
32. MILITARY BUILDUP: REAGAN AND CONGRESS INCREASED SPENDING FOR
THE MILITARY BY $1.5 TRILLION OVER 5 YEARS
33. COMMUNISM: A CONCEPT OR SYSTEM (GOVT.) WHERE ALL THE MEANS OF
PRODUCTION,(FACTORIES AND BUSINESSES) ARE OWNED BY ALL THE
PEOPLE AND NOT OWNED BY INDIVIDUALS. EVERYONE WORKS FOR THE
GOVERNMENT. THE TWO GREAT COMMUNIST POWERS WERE THE USSR
(RUSSIA) AND CHINA.
34. EVIL EMPIRE: WHAT REAGAN CALLED THE USSR; HE SAID COMMUNISM
WAS THE "FOCUS OF EVIL IN THE MODERN WORLD".
HE BELIEVED
COMMUNISTS WERE TRYING TO TAKING OVER IN THE WESTERN
HEMISPHERE
35. CENTRAL AMERICA: REAGAN BELIEVED THE COMMUNISTS WERE TRYING
TO TAKE OVER NATIONS IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND HE VOWED TO STOP
THEM
36. JEANE KIRKPATRICK: FIRST WOMEN U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED
NATIONS, SHE AGREED WITH REAGAN (WHO APPOINTED HER) THAT
FIGHTING COMMUNISM IN CENTRAL AMERICAN WAS IMPORTANT
37. EL SALVADOR: SINCE 1979 COMMUNIST LED REBELS HAD BEEN FIGHTING
THE GOVT. IN A BLOODY CIVIL WAR. REAGAN SENT THE ANTI-COMMUNIST
GOVT. AID TO FIGHT THE REBELS
38. SANDINISTAS: REVOLUTIONARIES WHO OVERTHROW THE NICARAGUAN
DICTATOR SOMOZA IN 1979. THEY BEGAN TO NATIONALIZE NICARAGUAN
INDUSTRIES (THE GOVT. TOOK THEM OVER) AND GOT AID FROM THE USSR
AND COMMUNIST CUBA. REAGAN HATED THEM
39. CONTRAS: ANTI-SANDINISTA NICARAGUANS WHO REAGAN ORDERED THE
CIA TO HELP GET RID OF THE SANDINISTAS. BY 1984 THEY HAD 15,000
MEN FIGHTING THE SANDINISTAS FROM BASES IN HONDURAS AND COSTA
RICA
40. "AMERICA'S SECRET WAR": IN 1982 NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE RAN A
STORY EXPOSING REAGAN'S WAR IN NICARAGUA
41. BOLAND AMENDMENT: CONGRESS APPROVED MONEY FOR THE CONTRAS
AS LONG AS IT WAS USED ONLY TO STOP SHIPMENTS OF ARMS FROM THE
SANDINISTAS IN NICARAGUA TO THE REBELS IN EL SALVADOR.
42. DEATH SQUADS: SECRET GROUPS OPERATING UNDER THE US BACKED
GOVT. IN EL SALVADOR THAT WERE ACCUSED OF KILLING OVER 40,000
CIVILIANS. MANY AMERICANS BECAME UPSET WHEN THEY LEARNED THAT
THE GROUPS AND GOVT. WE BACKED IN EL SALVADOR AND NICARAGUA
WERE GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST CIVILIANS
43. PLO: PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION, A GROUP THAT WANTED TO
DESTROY ISRAEL AND SET UP AN ARAB STATE IN ITS PLACE. IT MADE
TERROR ATTACKS ACROSS THE BORDER FROM LEBANON INTO ISRAEL
KILLING ISRAELI CIVILIANS.
44. ISRAEL INVADES LEBANON: ISRAEL INVADED LEBANON IN 1982 TO PUT
AN END TO THE PLO's ATTACKS ON ISRAEL.
THERE WERE MANY
CAUSALITIES AND REAGAN ORDERED ISRAEL TO END THE INVASION AND A
CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT WAS WORKED OUT AND THE PLO LEFT LEBANON
45. U.S. MARINES TO LEBANON:
REAGAN SENT SEVERAL THOUSAND
MARINES TO LEBANON IN 1982 TO HELP THE LEBANON END THEIR CIVIL
WAR. IN OCT A POWERFUL TRUCK BOMB EXPLODED KILLING 241 MARINES.
REAGAN PULLED OUT THE MARINES 4 MONTHS LATER
46. GRENADA: ON OCTOBER 25, 1983 REAGAN ORDERED A US INVASION OF
THE TINY CARIBBEAN ISLAND OF GRENADA. THE ISLAND HAD BEEN TAKEN
OVER BY A GOVT. REAGAN THOUGHT WAS COMMUNIST. AT FIRST REAGAN
SAID THE INVASION WAS TO RESCUE 600 AMERICAN MEDICAL STUDENTS
BUT IN REALITY IT WAS TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT., WHICH REAGAN
BELIEVED, WAS WORKING WITH THE USSR AND CUBA.
47. COLD WAR: FROM 1945 TO 1989, TIME WHEN THE USA AND ITS ALLIES
OPPOSED THE USSR AND ITS ALLIES. THERE WAS GREAT DANGER THAT A
NUCLEAR WAR MIGHT START DESTROYING ALL LIFE ON EARTH. US FEAR OF
COMMUNIST EXPANSION WAS A PRIME CAUSE
48. AFGHANISTAN WAR:
USSR BECAME INVOLVED IN A WAR AGAINST
REBELS IN AFGHANISTAN.
USSR WAS TRYING TO KEEP THE AFGHAN
COMMUNIST GOVT. IN POWER. THE USA SUPPORTED THE MUSLIM REBELS
AGAINST THE USSR
49. RUSSIA'S VIETNAM: WHAT THE USSR's WAR IN AFGHANISTAN WAS
CALLED. COMPARED TO THE US WAR IN VIETNAM THAT THE USA COULD
NOT WIN.
50. SOLIDARITY: DEMOCRATIC LABOR UNION MOVEMENT IN POLAND THAT
FOUGHT AGAINST COMMUNIST CONTROL OF THEIR NATION.
THE
COMMUNIST POLISH GOVT. TRIED TO DESTROY SOLIDARITY BUT FAILED
51. KOREAN AIRPLANE: IN SEPTEMBER OF 1983 A SOVIET (USSR) FIGHTER
PLANE SHOT DOWN A KOREAN PASSENGER PLANE THAT HAD STRAYED INTO
SOVIET AIRSPACE. THIS CAUSED TENSION BETWEEN THE USA AND USSR
WHEN THE USSR REFUSED TO MAKE REPARATIONS FOR THE 269 PEOPLE
KILLED
52. ARMS RACE: REAGAN BELIEVED THE USA WAS BEHIND THE USSR IN
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. HE FUNDED NEW WEAPON SYSTEMS
SUCH AS THE B-1 BOMBER AND NEUTRON BOMB WHICH PREVIOUS
PRESIDENTS HAD CANCELLED. REAGAN LED A US WEAPONS BUILDUP TO
MAKE THE USA AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE SOVIETS IN WEAPONRY
53. MISSILE DEPLOYMENT IN EUROPE: A CONTROVERSY DEVELOPED OVER
REAGAN'S PLANS TO DEPLOY ADDITIONAL NUCLEAR MISSILES IN EUROPE.
MANY PEOPLE IN THE US AND EUROPE PROTESTED REAGAN'S PLAN
54. STAR WAR: NAME FOR STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE (SDI) REAGAN’S
FUTURISTIC PLAN TO BUILD A DEFENSE AGAINST NUCLEAR MISSILES FIRED
AT THE US. NICKNAMED STAR WARS AFTER THE MOVIE BECAUSE IT WAS A
SPACE BASED SYSTEM TO USE SATELLITES AND LASERS TO KNOCK DOWN
INCOMING MISSILES BEFORE THEY HIT THE USA.
TECHNICAL AND
FINANCIAL PROBLEMS PREVENTED THE SYSTEM FROM BEING BUILT
55. MIKHAIL GORBACHEV: HE BECAME THE SOVIET LEADER IN MARCH 1985
HE WAS A REFORMER WHO BEGAN A SERIES OF CHANGES THAT
EVENTUALLY LED TO THE BREAKUP OF THE SOVIET UNION AND THE END OF
COMMUNIST PARTY RULE.
56. GLASNOST:
RUSSIAN WORD MEANING OPENNESS.
GORBACHEV
INTRODUCED THIS WHICH ALLOWED PUBLIC CRITICISM OF COMMUNISM
AND THE USSR GOVERNMENT. RUSSIANS COULD NOW SAY THINGS THAT
WOULD HAVE HAD THEM IMPRISONED PREVIOUSLY
57. PERESTROIKA:
GORBACHEV'S 1987 PLAN TO RESTRUCTURE SOVIET
SOCIETY. PLAN TO INTRODUCE DEMOCRACY AND LESSEN GOVT. CONTROL
IT EVENTUALLY LED TO THE DESTRUCTION OF COMMUNIST CONTROL OF
RUSSIA
58. THAW IN COLD WAR: BECAUSE OF GORBACHEV HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE
USA AND USSR LESSENED. REAGAN HAD 4 SUMMIT CONFERENCES WITH
GORBACHEV EACH TIME IMPROVING RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO SUPER
POWERS.
59. INF TREATY: 1987 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE USA AND USSR THAT
REDUCED 5% OF EACH NATIONS NUCLEAR STOCKPILE (NUCLEAR
WEAPONS). IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT WAS A FIRST STEP IN ELIMINATING
NUCLEAR WEAPONS (Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles)
60. IRAN -CONTRA AFFAIR: A COMPLICATED PLAN THAT ALLOWED THE SALE
OF WEAPONS TO IRAN IN EXCHANGE FOR AMERICANS KIDNAPPED BY
ISLAMIC TERRORISTS. FEW HOSTAGES WERE RELEASED AND THE PROFIT
FROM THE ARMS SALE WAS GIVEN TO THE CONTRAS FIGHTING AGAINST
THE SANDINISTA GOVERNMENT IN NICARAGUA. IT WAS ALL ILLEGAL AND
BECAME A SCANDAL WHEN EXPOSED IN NOV. 1986
61. OLIVER NORTH: ONE OF THE MAN INVOLVED IN THE CRIMES OF THE
IRAN-CONTRA AFFAIR. HE WAS INVESTIGATED TRIED AND CONVICTED OF
TAKING PART IN THE COVER-UP. REAGAN WAS CLEARED OF ANY BLAME