Cold War - A state of military and political tension that stops short of full scale war.

Containment - A policy adopted by Truman to stop the spread of Communism.

Iron Curtain - A social, economic, and military barrier between Soviet bloc countries and
Western Europe after World War II.
Satellites - Nations that are politically controlled by another country.
Superpowers - During the cold war these were the U.S. and the former U.S.S.R.
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization An alliance formed in 1949 by the nations of the
United States, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium,
Luxembourg, Portugal, France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. The alliance was originally formed for
mutual defense against Soviet attack.
Warsaw Pact-An alliance between the former U.S.S.R. and its satellite countries.
Berlin Wall - A wall that separated East and West Germany during the cold war and was
dismantled in 1989.
Demilitarized Zone - A certain location where military forces, activity, and installations have
been removed.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles - Missiles, usually nuclear, that have the capability of traveling
from one continent to another.
Repatriation - The return of prisoners of war to their own countries.
Thermonuclear -Pertaining to atomic weapons based on fusion rather than those based on fission.
Détente - The easing of tensions or strained relations, especially between nations.
Draft - Involuntary selection of people to join the armed services.
Endemic -Pertaining specifically to a place or people.
Autonomy - The quality of being self-governing
Purge - To rid a political party or group of people of undesirable members.
Amerindian - A member of the native people groups living in North, Central, or South America
before the Europeans arrived.
Deficit -Shortage in finances; a excess of spending over the amount of assets.
federal republic- A collection of states that join to form a republic.
head of state - The chief executive of a nation.
Mestizo - A person of mixed racial ancestry. In Central and South America, the term refers
especially to someone of Spanish and Amerindian ancestry.
non-aligned - A nation that was not allied with either Communist or non-Communist blocs
during the cold war.
parliamentary democracy - A democracy that uses a parliamentary structure of government.
Capitalism - An economic system based on free enterprise rather than governmental control.
Gulf Stream - A major ocean current that starts in the Caribbean sea and flows through the gulf
of Mexico and the straits of Florida before heading up the east coast.
Socialist - A person who holds to the ideas of socialism or is a member of the Socialist Party.
Apartheid - A policy of race segregation held in South Africa
Khmer Rouge - The Cambodian Communist party that brutally seized power during the
Cambodian civil war of 1975 and controlled the country until 1979.