USEFUL KEYWORDS FOR YOUR EXAMINATION

HISTORY

Bloc: A group of countries which belong to the same economic and military organisation. They are
linked by a similar ideology and the common recognition of a leader.

Cold war: The extremely tense situation that opposed the USSR and its allied countries to the USA and
its allies from 1947 to 1991. It led to an ideological and economic confrontation, as well as a nuclear
arms race. Several geopolitical breaks occurred: the “iron curtain” and violent peripheral conflicts like
the Korean war and the Vietnam war.

Peaceful co-existence: The policy suggested by Khrushchev in 1956 to allow the USSR to bridge the
technological gap with the western world. Nevertheless, the USSR didn’t give up its expansionist
objectives.

Détente: A period of relaxation of international tensions in the wake of the Cuban crisis.

Independence: The access of a people to full-fledged sovereignty.

Self-determination: The right for a people to decide their own political future.

Decolonisation: The process leading to the withdrawal of Imperial powers from the countries they had
colonized.

Non-alignment: The policy implemented by newly-independent nations, consisting in not becoming

involved in the East-West confrontation.

Perestroika: (restructuring) refers to Gorbatchev’s policy aimed to decentralize the economic system,
fight against corruption and introduce some free-market principles.

Glasnost: (openness) refers to G.’s policy aimed at promoting freedom of speech and access to
information.

Islamism: A political ideology advocating the setting up of a state in which institutions, society and the
economy are based on Islamic principles.

Unilateralism: Refers to a foreign policy of a state acting alone to promote its self interest, without
taking other states’ opinions into account.

Multilateralism: Refers to a foreign policy based on cooperation and negotiation

Multipolar/unipolar world: A world dominated by several powers/ a world dominated by a single

power.

Welfare state: A series of laws that ensured a national social security system in West European
countries from 1945.

Liberal democracy: A political regime founded on national sovereignty and multiparty system.
People’s democracy/People’s republic/Socialist democracy: A political regime ruling East European
countries from 1945-1948 to 1989. Its institutions, society and economic structures emulated the
Soviet model, with the USSR exerting an all-prevailing influence.

GEOGRAPHY

Globalization: « The growing interdependence of countries worldwide through the increasing volume
and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services and of international capital flows, and
through the more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology » source IMF

Gross domestic product (GDP): the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a
given year. The measure is easy to compute and gives a precise measure of the value of output.

Cultural imperialism: the practice of promoting the culture or language of one nation in another. It is
usually the case that the former is a large, economically or military powerful nation and the latter is a
smaller, less affluent one.

TNC (Transnational corporation): a firm that owns or controls productive operations in more than one
country through foreign direct investment.