Glossary

 

ABM: Antiballistic Missile

 

ABSTAIN: to retrain from casting a "yes" or "no" vote

 

ACTIVIST: an individual who is extensively and vigorously involved in political activity, either within or outside the governmental system

 

ADJOURN: to suspend a session to another time or place or indefinitely

 

ADJUDGE: to decide or rule upon as a judge

 

AGENDA: a list of specific items of business to be considered at a legislative session, conference, or meeting

 

ALBM: Air Launched Ballistic Missile

 

ANNEX: to incorporate into a country the territory of another country

 

APARTHEID: the official policy of racial discrimination that existed in South Africa

 

ARBITRATION: process by which an outsider is authorized to dictate the terms of a settlement of a dispute if a voluntary agreement can not be reached

 

ARMISTICE: a temporary peace agreement

 

ASAT: Anti-Satellite weapon

 

AUSPICES: protection or patronage

 

AUTONOMY: independence, self- government

 

BELLIGERENT: group or nation which is engaged in a war or military conflict

 

BILATERAL: having or involving two sides

 

BOYCOTT: refusing to deal with a person, group, nation, or group of nations so as to punish or show disapproval

 

BREACH OF TREATY: failure to observe the terms of a signed treaty

 

BUILD DOWN: the theory of building up the weapons arsenals of the U.S. and Russia until equal and then negotiating reductions in arms from their new equal standing

 

CAPITALISM: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods by investments that are determined by private decisions rather than by state control, and by prices, production, and the distribution of good that are determined mainly by competition in a free market

 

CARTEL: an association of industrialists or nations formed to establish an international monopoly

 

CAUCUS: a meeting among delegates to discuss policy and topics outside of the formal meeting

 

CENSORSHIP: broadly, any government restrictions on speech or writing; more precisely, governmental restrictions on forms of expression before they are disseminated

 

CENSURE: to blame, criticize adversely, or express disapproval

 

COALITION: combination of two or more factions or parties for the purpose of achieving some political goal

 

COLLECTIVE SECURITY: all members accept joint responsibility for preserving peace

 

COMMUNISM: a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production with the professed aim of establishing a stateless society

 

COMPENSARY FINANCING: credit designed to help raw material producer members of the IMF in times of poor market for their exports

 

COUP D'ETAT: a sudden and decisive act in politics, usually bringing about a change in government unlawfully and by force

 

CRUISE MISSILE: a long range jet- propelled, winged-bomb which can be launched from land, sea, or air and targeted by remote control; usually considered to be more accurate and low-flying than traditional missiles

 

CTB: comprehensive test ban

 

DECOLONIZATION: process of transferring a colony to a self-governing area

 

DEFLATION: a sustained decrease in the general price level

 

DELEGATE: a person who is a member of a delegation

 

DELEGATION: a group of delegates who represent a nation, state, political party, or special interest group; usually acting in formal procedures for specified goals

 

DEMILITARIZE: to free from military control

 

DEPRESSION: a sever economic slump (worse than a recession) characterized by very high unemployment

 

DEREGULATION: the act or process of removing restrictions and regulation

 

DESTABILIZATION: the act of making a government unsteady

 

DETAINMENT: detention, confinement

 

DILATORY: causing delay, repetitive

 

DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY: special privileges accorded to diplomats and their families and staffs by international agreement, including freedom from arrest, search, and taxation

 

DISARMAMENT: the act of disarming; reduction of military forces and equipment

 

DISSEMINATION: the act or process of scattering or state of being scattered; usually referring to distribution of information

 

EASTERN BLOC: group of nations, traditionally led by Russia, whose general theory of government is Communism

 

EXPANSIONISM: the process of broadening a nation's borders

 

EXPROPRIATION: the taking of property into public ownership without compensation, such as the property of foreign investors or foreign industry in a nation

 

EXTRADITION: the surrender of a prisoner or fugitive by one state, nation, or legal authority to another

 

FOREIGN INTERVENTION: interference by one nation into the affairs of another

 

FORUM: an assembly for discussing questions of foreign interests

 

GNP: Gross National Product; the total value of the goods and services produced in a nation during a specific period of time

 

ICBM: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile; a missile, normally with multiple warheads, with a long range

 

IDEOLOGY: a comprehensive set of political, economic, and social views or ideas, particularly concerned with the form and role of government

 

INFLATION: a sustained increase in the general price level

 

INTEGRITY: honesty; sincerity; trustworthiness

 

INTER ALIA: among other things

 

INTERNAL AFFAIRS: having to do with operations within a nation; domestic affairs

 

JUNTA: a political or military group holding power after a revolution; a political faction; as assembly or council for deliberation or administration, especially in Spanish-speaking nations

 

JURISDICTION: authority vested in a court to hear and decide certain types of cases; term literally means "to say the law"

 

LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDC): countries whose share of output composed of agricultural products, mining, and the like is relatively high, which engage in proportionally little industrial high-technology activity, and whose per capita incomes are generally comparatively low

 

MANDATE: a commission given to one nation by a group of nations to administer the government and affairs of a territory or colony

 

MEDIATION: process in which an outsider is brought into a dispute negotiation in the hopes that this person can lead the two sides to a voluntary agreement through persuasion

 

MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION: a company having branches in several nations

 

NATIONAL DEBT: a government's total indebtedness, which has resulted from previous deficits

 

NATIONALIZE: to invest control or ownership of industry in the national government

 

NATURAL RESOURCES: those actual or potential forms of wealth supplied by nature, such as coal, oil, water powers, arable land, etc.

 

NON-ALIGNED: a nation not politically tied to another, usually taking a neutral position between large power blocs

 

OLIGARCHY: a system of government in which political power is exercised by a small group of people, usually self- selected

 

ORPHAN DISEASES: isolated yet deadly diseases which have no cure as yet

 

PATENT: a temporary grant of monopoly rights over an invention

 

PEACE BUILDING: post conflict support for future peaceful resolution of differences

 

PEACE-KEEPING: the deployment of a United Nations presence in the field, hitherto with the consent of all the parties concerned, normally involving United Nations military and/or police personnel and frequently civilians as well.

 

PEACE-KEEPING FORCE: a group sent to maintain, enforce, or intervene to achieve a cessation of hostilities between opposing armies, nations, or other groups

 

PEACEMAKING: action to bring hostile parties to agreement, especially through peaceful means

 

PLENARY SESSION: a session attended by al of its qualified members

 

PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY: action to prevent disputes from arising between parties, to prevent existing disputes from escalating into conflicts and to limit the spread of the latter when they occur

 

PROCEDURAL: of or related to procedure

 

PROLIFERATION: a spreading; expansion; propagation

 

PROTECTIONISM: the process of government economic protection for domestic producers through restrictions on foreign competition

 

PROTECTORATE: a weak nation under the protection and partial control of a stronger nation

 

RAPPORTEUR: a member of a legislative miliary, or other official group appointed to record and make or draw up a report

 

RECESSION: period during which the total output of the economy declines

 

SANCTION: an action by several nations toward another nation intended to force it to obey international law

 

SATELLITE: a country that claims to be independent but is actually under the control of another

 

SECRETARIAT: the official office or position of Secretary-General; the department, including staff, buildings, etc. controlled by the Secretary-General

 

SELF-DETERMINATION: the decision by the people of a nation as to what form of government they shall have, without reference to the wishes of any other nation

 

SLBM: Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile

 

SOCIALISM: the theory or system of social organization by which the major means of production and distribution are owned, managed, and controlled by the government, by an association or workers, or the community as a whole

 

SOVEREIGN: independent of all others; supreme in power rank, or authority

 

SUBSTANTIVE: real, actual, essential

 

SUSPEND: to cause to stop temporarily, as a meeting; to set aside or make temporarily inoperative, as the rules

 

SYNFUELS: fuels synthesized from sources other than crude oil or natural gas

TARIFF: a schedule of duties, rates, or charges imposed by the government on imported or exported items

 

THIRD WORLD NATIONS: the underdeveloped nations of the world

 

TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION: corporation whose operations transcend international borders

 

TRUSTEESHIP: the administration by a nation of a trust territory, approved by the UN, usually with the idea that the trust territory will be developed toward self-government or independence

 

TERRORISM: use of terror, especially the systematic use of terror by the government or other authority against particular persons or groups; a method of opposing a government internally or externally through the use of terror

 

VOID: without legal force or effect; not binding by law

 

WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION: weapons whose effects are wide- spread or deemed to be excessively injurious to civilians or the environment, e.g. chemical, biological, and radiological warfare

 

WESTERN BLOC: group of nations, traditionally led by the United States, whose general theory of government is democratic and capitalist