GLOSSARY:

INTERNATIONAL AND POLITICAL TERMS

European Union (EU)-Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) informal group formed 1990. See Dialogue 5+5.

Chief residence of the Japanese emperor in Tokyo.

Start of the current Libyan regime following the overthrow of the monarch on 1 September (al-fatih) 1969.

Icelandic parliament in Reykjavik.

Official residence of the Brazilian president in Brasília.

Practice of hiring retired civil servants as heads of public corporations (Japanese).

Regional group formed on 26 May 1969.

Term used by US President George W. Bush in the the State of Union Address on 28 January 2002 encompassing Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea—see also "countries of concern" and "rogue countries."

Members of British and Commonwealth parliaments seated in the rear, i.e. members who do not belong to the cabinet or shadow [opposition] cabinet. See also front bench.

Malay language of Indonesia.

Malay language of Malaysia.

Center of government in Vienna where offices of the president (Hofburg) and the federal chancellor are located.

Political reference to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Geographically, the group includes all countries bordering on the Baltic Sea.

Reference analogous to Iron Curtain and formerly applied to China and the southeast Asian communist-ruled states of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

President’s House in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Partnership between the European Union (EU) and 12 countries south of the Mediterranean Sea.

Royal palace of the King of Jordan in Amman. The Bab al Salaam Palace is located outside Amman. Raghadan Palace is a royal residence in Amman.

Agreement among Stanislav S. Shuskhevich (Belarus), Boris N. Yel’tsin (Russia), and Leonid M. Kravchuk (Ukraine) who met at the Belaya Vezha hunting lodge near Brest on 7-8 December 1991 to establish the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Residence of Federal President of Federal Republic of Germany at Spreeweg 1, Tiergarten district, in Berlin.

Official residence of the Polish president in Warsaw.

Reference to French finance ministry located at 139 rue de Bercy in Paris (12).

Berlin Wall#

Barrier erected on 17 August 1963 by the East German government between East and West Berlin to prevent commuting and defections from East Berlin. When the East German travel ban was lifted on 9 November, Berliners from both sides began tearing down parts of the wall shortly after midnight.

Location of the official residence of the President of Iceland on Alftanes peninsula, outside Reykjavik. The estate is the former residence of the Danish governor. The president’s office is located on Laekjargata.

Non-citizen, especially in Kuwait (Arabic).

Big Brother#

Informal reference used in communist Eastern Europe to the Soviet Union.

Big Four#

Major allies in World War 2: Britain, France, Soviet Union and the United States.

The world’s four major oil enterprises: BP-Amoco, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Total-Fina. Formerly part of Seven Sisters.

Commonly used in Africa to refer to the boss and especially to the authoritarian head of a country.

Big Three#

Major allies in World War 2: Britain, Soviet Union and the United State, also G-3.

Office of the Indonesian president in Jakarta.

In Europe, Christian conservative party or member thereof, also a Catholic.

Three land-locked states bordering on South Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland.

In Austria, right-wing nationalist parties.

United Nations peacekeeping forces.

Official residence of the South Korean president in Seoul.

Government residence at the Sochi  Black Sea resort, Russia.

International year-long effort initiated by the German federal government to suggest ways to strengthen the capacity to implement arms embargoes, travel and aviation-related sanctions by the United Nations (UN) and member states.

Brezhnev Doctrine#

Formulated in 1968 by then President Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982) declaring that "socialism is indivisible, and its defense is the common cause of all Communists, " i.e., a socialist country cannot leave the communist bloc.

Royal Palace of the Queen of England in London.

Sons of the soil, i.e. native Malays of peninsular Malaysia (Malay).

Federal chancellor, i.e. head of government in Austria and Germany, head of the administrative office of the Swiss government.

Swiss Federal Council (i.e., government executive).

Upper house of parliament in Austria and Germany.

German parliament (lower house) in Bonn.

Regular or extraordinary session of government ministers to discuss and decide on matters of state. Some governments hold periodic meetings, such as

        France: Council of Ministers, every Wednesday, except during summer vacation, at 10 o’clock, chaired by the president.

        Russia: Council of Ministers, every Thursday, held in the Kremlin.

        Russia: President holds meeting of the Security Council every Saturday on foreign and domestic policy in the Kremlin.

Local party boss (Mexico).

Mexican Chamber of Deputies in Mexico City.

Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome.

Residence of the Turkish President, 6 km south of downtown Ankara.

Carnation Revolution#

Bloodless "Revolution of Carnations" carried out on 25 April 1974 by progressive officers ending civilian dictatorship in Portugal. So named because of the jubilant crowds who handed out carnations to the military.

Official residence of the Ecuadorian President, located in Quito.

Official residence of the Argentine president in Buenos Aires.

Seat of the government in Accra, Ghana.

Informal designation of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Russia.

Geographic reference to the area between Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Europe, including the following countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia (Yugoslavia), Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Central Powers#

Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Turkey in World War 1.

Seat of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic in Hradcany, Prague.

Large family-controlled conglomerates in Korea.

Nickname for the seat of the Council of Ministers of the European Union on avenue Charlemagne in Brussels, Belgium.

Village leader (Bangladesh, India).

Residence of the British foreign secretary in Kent.

Offices of the President of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Seat of Danish parliament in Copenhagen.

Reference to the Emperor of Japan.

Unitary ideology of North Korea (since April 1974), i.e. self-reliance.

The seven poorest countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2003: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

British financial district in London.

It holds that the international community has an obligation to violate the principle of state sovereignty to protect the rights of a persecuted minority (USA).

Informal group of business leaders, politicians, and scientists formed 1968 to advance social justice and harmony with the environment.

Nickname for the US Central Intelligence Agency.

Process agreed upon by India and Pakistan in 1997 to hold talks on eight-point agenda: economic and commercial cooperation, friendly exchanges, Kashmir, peace and security, Siachen glacier, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, and Wullar barrage. Talks were interrupted in 1998 and resumed in December 2004.

Spanish parliament in Madrid.

Seat of Romanian president in Bucarest.

US Government term for Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea, formerly called rogue countries. See also "Axis of Evil."

Cultural Revolution#

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was launched by Mao Zedong (1893-1976) on 2 September 1965 to counter the moderate government of Liu Shao-ch’i and Deng Xiaoping. It was approved by the 11th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party on 8 August 1966 and Red Guards were created to destroy old authority. The campaign was formally ended by the 9th Party Congress in 1969.

Irish House of Representatives in Dublin.

Basic unit of a collective (Chinese).

Adulatory address of North Korean leader Kim Chong-il.

Indonesian House of Representatives in Jakarta.

Malaysian House of Representatives in Kuala Lumpur.

Five representatives each of the European Union (EU) and North African countries advancing closer cooperation: France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain; Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. (First summit held on 4-6 December 2003 in Tunis.) See also 5+5.

Vietnamese policy of renovation, adopted by Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) in December 1986 as economic reform program.

Domino Effect/Theory#

Assumption, especially favored by US political and military leaders in the 1960s, that if then South Vietnam would fall to the communists, the neighboring countries of Southeast Asia would succumb likewise.

Location of official residence and office of the British prime minister in London.

Group of Asian, European and  North American governments specializing in problems of narcotics production and trafficking.

State Duma, Russian federal parliament.

Location of UN Headquarters in New York NY.

Finnish parliament in Helsinki.

Official residence of the French president in rue du Faubourg-Saint Honoré, Paris since 1873.

        Fort Brégançon: Summer residence of French presidents on the Mediterranean coast, about  20 km east of Hyères, since 13 January 1968.

        Château de Rambouillet: Country residence of the French president and guest house for visiting heads of state since 1896, 35 km southwest of Paris in Yvelines Department.

        Château de Versailles: Used for state functions and houses the presidents of the French National Assembly and the Senate.

        le Domaine de Souzy-la-Briche: Alternate residence of the French president since 1978, about 30 km south of Paris in Essene Department.

Council of the Entente formed on 29 May 1959.

Entente#

The Allies—France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States of America (USA)—in World War 1.

Euphemism for forcible removal of an ethnic group and its members from home, territory, and country by the government or an authority of an another group, by all means, including dispossession and murder.

Cultural exclusion claimed by France from open market provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for audio-visual and literary works to protect the country’s culture from being overwhelmed or diluted by foreign works, especially American movies and music (French).

Location of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome.

Federal Reserve Bank (System)(USA).

The federal government, the federal civil servants (USA).

The industrialized countries, developed countries.

Han, Manchu, Mongolians, Hui, and Tibetans.

Location of most prominent British newspaper and press offices in London.

Nickname for the US State Department referring to its location in a formerly foggy and swampy area near the Potomac River.

Danish parliament in Copenhagen.

Leaders of Canada, Chile, Mexico, and the United States. (Reference made by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on 10 December 1994 in Miami FL, on the occasion of inviting Chile to join NAFTA.

The new industrial Asian countries of Hong Kong, Korea (ROK), Singapore, and Taiwan; also Four Tigers.

Same as Four Dragons.

The press.

Informal reference to the US Central Intelligence Agency, used by British intelligence .

Members of the cabinet or shadow [opposition] cabinet who are seated in the front row in British and Commonwealth parliaments. See also back bench.

Front States#

African states opposed to white South African government and apartheid policy.

Nickname for the US State Department.

Traditional courts in Rwanda, conducting trials of suspects of genocide since March 2005.

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) declared his principles were satya,  i.e. truth, and ahimsa, i.e. non-violence. See satyagraha.

glas’nost’#

Russian term for openness or transparency. Essential part of policy of economic and political reforms, first introduced by Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachov on 28 June 1988.

Greater integration of countries into the world economy, internationalism in economy.

ecological, environmental

Doing business based on relationships rather than by formal rules (Chinese).

Hallstein Doctrine#

Foreign policy principle expressed by Walter Hallstein, (1901-1982) Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1955 not to open or maintain diplomatic relations with any country that maintains such ties with the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Abandoned in 1972.

Seat of the President of Zimbabwe in Harare.

Hardthöhe#

Former location of the German Federal Defense Ministry in Bonn.

Network of informal banking (Arabic).

Final Act on Security and Cooperation in Review, signed 1975 in Helsinki (CSCE).

Regular review of arms control, human rights, environment and other issues (CSCE).

Survivor of 1945 US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japanese).

The Hindu Way, politico-religious concept of Indian parties advocating India to shed secularism and adopt the Hindu religion as state religion.

Seat of Austrian president in Vienna.

The Vatican or Papal State in Rome, Italy.

Residence of the President of the Czech Republic in Prague.

Royal Dutch residence in Amsterdam.

The legislature of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar.

Seat of the President of Madagascar, located 15 km south of Antananarivo.

Descendants of those who inhabited land which was then taken over by people from a different ethnic origin (UN definition).

Established by the British in 1873 inside the external northern border beneath the foothills of the Himalaya. Entry into the zone between the "inner" and "outer" (i.e., international boundary) by non-Indian nationals requires special permission.

French term for integrationism, used especially in Algeria and Tunisia, to describe proposals for peaceful dialog with militant Muslims leading to their full integration into national society.

Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation (9 December 1987-September 1993, September 2000-current al-Aqsa intifada).

Iron Curtain#

The physical dividing line between the former Soviet Union and its European satellite states first so described by Winston Churchill (1874-1965) in a speech on 5 March 1946 in Fulton, Missouri.

Brazilian foreign ministry and foreign service (named after its former palace location in Rio de Janeiro).

Official residence of the Egyptian president in Cairo.

Official residence of the Brazilian vice president in Brasília.

Jatiya Sangsad

Parliament of Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Parliament of Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek.

Office of the Japanese prime minister.

karo-kari, also siyah-kari

Code of honor killing (Pakistan).

Death from overwork (Japanese).

Network of subcontractors and suppliers of a larger enterprise, usually fully or partially owned (Japanese).

Executive at regional, district and city level (Uzbekistan).

"Enough" (Arabic), the slogan of an Egyptian movement protesting the renomination of the incumbent Egyptian president for a 5th term of office in 2005.

Campaign in Uganda to allow third presidential term.

Israeli parliament in Jerusalem.

Japanese Diet in Tokyo.

Bloc, coalition (Arabic)

Seat of Soviet Council of Ministers in Moscow.

Seat of the Russian (formerly Soviet) government in Moscow.

        Novo-Ogarevo: Official retreat of the Russian president, 30 minutes from Moscow.

Korean National Assembly in Seoul.

Homeland of the Kurds.

Concept of secularism, separation of religion and state (French).

Reference to Lahore Declaration of 21 February 1999 issued following meeting between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers in Lahore, Pakistan. They pledged to follow certain procedures regarding tests of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons and to intensify their efforts to resolve the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir through dialog and ministerial meetings.

Indian parliament (lower house) in New Delhi.

Informal forum of major international commercial banks, used primarily for private debt rescheduling. Founded in 1976.

Official residence of the Uruguayan president in Ascunción.

Lubyanka#

Building located at 2 Dzerzhinskogo plan in Moscow. During communist period, synonymous with the Soviet secret police and its prison, now headquarters of Federal Counterintelligence Service. Before 1917,  seat of All-Russian Insurance Company.

Royal village of the Swazi king, 20 km east of the capital of Mbane.

Arabic for "west"; also refers to the western North African region consisting of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Iranian parliament in Tehran.

Council, assembly (Arabic).

Egyptian parliament in Cairo (i.e., people’s council, Arabic).

Official residence of the Philippine president in Manila.

Official residence of the Ukrainian president on Grushevs’kogo Mikhayla Boulevard in Kyiv.

Official residence of the French prime minister in Paris. At the end of its park, with a separate entrance, lies  le Pavillon de musique, a hideaway used for discreet talks.

        Hôtel de Marigny: Official guest house of the French government in Paris.

        La Laterne: Country home of French prime ministers in Versailles, Yvelines Department.

Boundary line drawn between British India and Tibet by British Captain Henry McMahon in 1916 but never accepted by a Chinese government.

Residence of the President of Indonesia in Jakarta. Known as Koningsplein Palace until 1945 in former Batavia.

Described as an indefinable region because no standard boundary delimitation exists. Geographic reference to the Maghreb or lands of Northwest Africa, the countries of the lower and middle Nile, the Fertile Crescent, and the Arabian Peninsula. Sometimes Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan are included. Often used interchangeably with Near East.

Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) group set up to settle disputes between states of the former Soviet Union—the Minsk process.

Process of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to settle disputes between states of the former Soviet Union, such as Nagorno-Karabakh.

Indian Muslims who fled to Pakistan at the time of the partition in 1947, i.e., refugee (Urdu).

Seat of the Spanish government in Madrid.

Official residence of the Chilean president in Santiago.

Family code (Morocco).

Obligation of a country to grant all advantages in commerce and trade to another country.

Combatant, fighter (Arabic).

Secret police, intelligence service (Arabic).

The leader or Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin) in Egypt.

Morality or religious police in Saudi Arabia.

Arab Palestinian term describing the day before the establishment of the State of Israel (14 May 1948) and consequent loss of their territories.

Royal palace of the King of Nepal in Kathmandu.

Austrian and Swiss parliament (lower house).

Issued by defense ministers of member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) every two years at the regular spring meeting.

Russian reference to the 14 non-Russian republics succeeding the former constituent Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union.

Originally used to refer to the lands of the eastern Mediterranean, later used interchangeably with Middle East. Adopted by the US Government to include the Arab nations of North Africa and Southwest Asia, and Iran.

Vision of the post-Cold War world expressed by US President George Bush on 7 March 1991.

Geographic reference to the Arab nations on the African continent, including Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and the Western Sahara.

Geographic reference to Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and the continental United States of America.

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Reference to use of orange as an identifying color of pro-democracy forces in Ukraine who demonstrated for and elected Viktor Yushchenko President in December 2004.

Hungarian National Assembly in Budapest.

Following secret negotiations in Oslo between Israeli and Palestine Arab representatives, aided by Norway, on 9 September 1993, Israel recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the Palestine representative and the PLO accepted the right of Israel to exist.

Independence (Central Asian Republics).

China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (ROK), Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan (ROC), and Thailand.

Residence of the President of Portugal on Calcada da Ajuda in Lisbon.

Official residence of the Venezuelan president in Caracas.

Official residence of the Spanish prime minister in Madrid.

Official residence of the Colombian president in Bogotá.

Building housing the French National Assembly in Paris.

Palais Schaumburg#

Former official residence of the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn.

Residence of Italian prime minister in Rome.

Building housing the Chamber of Deputies in Rome.

Five principles of peaceful coexistence (India). Agreed to by China and India concerning Chinese sovereignty in Tibet on 20 April 1954:

        (1) Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty;

        (2) Mutual non-aggression;

        (3) Mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs;

        (4) Equality and mutual benefit; and

        (5) Peaceful coexistence.

Peacock Throne#

Reference to the Shah of Iran before 1979.

Building housing the US Defense Department in Arlington VA.

perestroika#

Russian term for restructuring. Essential part of policy of economic and political reforms, first introduced by Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachov in 1985.

Location of the official residence of Ireland’s president in Dublin.

See red.

Reference to use of  pink as an identifying color of anti-government voters in Georgia who demonstrated  successfully against President Edvard Shevardnadze and ousted him from office in November 2003.

Official residence of the Mexican president in Mexico City.

Location of the French justice ministry in Paris.

Official residence of the Brazilian president in Brasília.

Use or threat of physical harm in political conflicts.

Prague Spring#

Period of democratizing socialism or practicing "socialism with a human face" between January and 20 August 1968 when Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces invade the Czecho-Slovak Socialist Republic (CSSR) to suppress the reform movement and arrest its leaders.

Official residence of the South African president in Pretoria.

British parliamentary tradition of providing members of the House of Commons an opportunity on every Wednesday in session at noon to pose questions to the Prime Minister.

Nickname for the US Defense Department in the Pentagon building.

The great leader of Pakistan, i.e. Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948).

French foreign ministry in Paris.

National People’s Congress of China in Beijing.

Contemporary group working to obtain peace in the Near East: European Union (EU), Russia, United Nations (UN), and the United States of America (USA).

Official residence of the Italian president in Rome.

Official residence of the Indian president in New Delhi since 1950. Formerly known as [British] Viceroy’s House.

Communist, social-democratic, socialist, left-wing, also pink.

Serbian Republic (in Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Indonesian five year-development plan (1st: 1960/70-1973/74).

Swedish parliament in Stockholm.

Plan for a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict developed by the Quartet and presented to Israel and Palestine on 30 April 2003. The plan has clear phases, timelines, and benchmarks and involves reciprocal steps by the two parties in the political, security, economic, and humanitarian fields.

rogue countries#

US Government term used for Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Syria. Term changed to "countries of concern." See also "Axis of Evil."

Burmese muslims.

Official residence of the Prime Minister of Sweden in Stockholm.

Parliament of Latvia in Riga.

Office of the Swedish prime minister in Stockholm.

West African countries located at the edge of the Sahara desert ("edge" Arabic).

Saharan native.

Group formed by Ethiopia, Sudan, and Yemen in 2003 to strengthen relations among the three countries.

Non-violent resistance as advocated by Mahatma Gandhi. See Gandhi principles of non-violence.

The former communist countries of Europe, Asia and Cuba.

Polish lower house of parliament in Warsaw.

Seven Sisters#

The most important international oil companies: British Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon, Gulf, Mobil, Shell, and Texaco. Now the Four Sisters.

People’s Palace in Damascus (Arabic).

Iranian Revolutionary Guard (Farsi).

The founders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.

Japanese House of Representatives in Tokyo.

I: Declaration made by the Organization of African Unity (OAU, meeting in September 1999 in Sirte, Libya, to establish the African Union (AU). II: Declaration of founding of the African Union (AU) on 2 March 2001 in Sirte.

Sixteen-plus-One#

The 16 NATO nations and Russia.

Informal reference to Belarus, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.

Location of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.

Customary criteria for sovereign statehood: (1) territory, (2) population, (3) recognition of treaty obligations, and (4) control over territory and population.

International year-long effort initiated by the Swedish government to suggest ways to strengthen the capacity to implement targeted sanctions by the United States and member states.

Stormont Castle in Belfast serving as seat of the administration of the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Norwegian parliament in Oslo.

Sublime Porte#

The Ottoman Empire and its government in Constantinople.

Soviet Union and the United States of America (1945-1990).

The Prime Minister of Ireland.

The less developed countries.

Current official Chinese doctrine to harmonize Marxism with the free market. Enunciated by former President and Part General Secretary Jiang Zemin in February 2000. The Chinese Communist Party (CPC) must (1) Represent the most advanced productive forces, including private business; (2) Represent the most advanced culture; and (3) Represent fundamental interest of the broad masses, not only a revolutionary party.

International meetings to prepare and agree on tariffs and rules of dispute settlement and trade which led to approval of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 and the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1975:

        1st round/Geneva Round 1947 in Geneva (12 countries)

        2nd  round 1949 in Annecy, France (13 countries)

        3rd round 1951 in Torquay, UK (38 countries)

        4th round/Geneva Round 1956 in Geneva (26 countries)

        5th round/Dillon Round 1960-1961 in Geneva (26 countries)

        6th round/Kennedy Round 1964-1967 in Geneva (62 countries)

        7th round/Tokyo Round 1973-1979 in Geneva (102 countries)

        8th round/Uruguay Round 1986-1994 in Geneva (123 countries)

        9th round/Doha Round 2002-2004 in Doha, Qatar (144 countries)

Tropical colorful American fruit-eating bird (Portuguese, Tupi). Used in Brazil to refer to a member of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB).

Two-plus-Four#

The Big Four, the Federal Republic of Germany and the former German Democratic Republic [German reunification].

Informal group of foreign ministers of current, previous, and future presiding governments in the European Union.

Former residence of governors of the Cape Colony which became the official residence of the South African President in Cape Town.

Velvet Revolution#

Bloodless and peaceful student demonstrations in Prague on 17 November 1989 force the communist leadership to resign. End of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

German term to describe effort to cope and face up to Germany’s criminal acts under its Nazi government.

Parliament of Ukraine in Kiev.

Normally used to describe reluctance to intervene in foreign conflicts shown by Americans as a result of the disappointment over the outcome of the Viet Nam War.

Greek Chamber of Deputies in Athens.

Reference to the former Berlin Wall (see entry) and to the wall erected by Israel separating it from Palestine.

New York financial district.

Informal cooperation incl. summit meetings, between France, Germany, and Poland.

British parliament in London.

Official residence of the American president at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC. The Oval Office is the office of the American president in the West Wing of the White House.

        Blair House: Official guest house of the American president, located on Pennsylvania Avenue, across from the White House.

        Camp David: Official retreat of the American president located near Thurmont, Maryland.

Main offices of the British government in London.

        10 Downing Street: Official residence of the British prime minister and place of cabinet meetings in London.

        Chequers: Country home of the British prime minister in Buckinghamshire since 1921.

Wilhelmstrasse

Location of German Foreign Office in Berlin before 1933. The Foreign Office of the federal Republic of Germany is located at Werderscher Markt 1, 10117 Berlin.

Week-long economic discussion held annually (January/February) in Davos Switzerland and attended by prominent political and economic world leaders. Founded in 1970 by Geneva-professor Klaus Schwab.

Malaysian head of state elected from hereditary rulers of 13 states.

In Europe, a liberal party or a member thereof.

Originally the concept of an ideal society that provides well for its citizens. Adopted by Deng Xiaoping as "a thousand consumers bloom," the beginning of economic liberalization (Chinese).

Preferred  residence of the Spanish king, located outside Madrid near the El Pardo Mountains, about 8 km northwest of the center of the capital.

Headquarters of the central government and residence of the Communist party leader in Beijing.

Clan, horde (Kazakhstan)

Notes:

# No longer in existence.

Names of official residences are included because of their frequent use as synonyms for certain governments and their officials (e.g., Quai d’Orsay for the French foreign ministry in Paris).