Marshall Plan : a United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

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Example : Marshall Plan sent $12 billion to European nations to rebuild them following WW 2.

Characteristics : • a strong production effort• The development of European

economic cooperation

NATO : is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949

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Example : Cyprus , Operation Desert Storm, Afghanistan

Characteristics : • NATO is now divided into two

commands• NATO has increasingly concentrated

on extending security and stability throughout Europe

Truman doctrine: was an international relations policy set forth by the U.S. President Harry Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947, which stated that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere

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Example : The United States would help stabilize legal foreign governments threatened by revolutionary minorities and outside pressures.

Characteristics : • Started on march 12,1947• Supported Greece and turkey• Start of the containment policy

Cuban Missile Crisis : was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other side.

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Examples : After the US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey, aimed at Moscow, and the failed US attempt to overthrow the Cuban regime, in May 1962 Nikita Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt

Characteristics : • After the removal of the missiles and

Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers from Cuba, the blockade[5] was formally ended at 6:45 pm EST on November 20, 1962

Bay Of Pigs : was an unsuccessful military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961.

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Examples : the invading force was defeated within three days by the Cuban armed forces.

Characteristics : • the main invasion landed at a beach

named Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs• The failed invasion strengthened the

position of Castro's administration, who proceeded to openly proclaim their intention to adopt socialism and strengthen ties with the Soviet Union

Space Race : was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (US) for supremacy in space exploration.

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Examples : The Space Race sparked increases in spending on education and pure research, which led to beneficial spin-off technologies.

Characteristics : • The Space Race had its origins in the

missile-based arms race that occurred just after the end of the World War II

• An unforeseen effect was that the Space Race contributed to the birth of the environmental movement

Arms Race : is a competition between two or more parties to have the best armed forces.

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Examples : , an arms race between several European countries, including Germany, France, Russia, and a few more took place.

Characteristics : • More generically, the term "arms

race" is used to describe any competition where there is no absolute goals

McCARTHYISM : the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence.

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Example : The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from 1950 to 1956 and characterized by heightened fears of communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents

Characteristics : • McCarthy was a heavy drinker and

was intellectually lazy

• McCarthyism was known to be an embarrassing and shameful episode of American history in the long term

HOUSE OF UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE : to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties.

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Examples : HUAC often pressured witnesses to surrender names and other information that could lead to the apprehension of Communists and Communist sympathizers

Characteristics : Committee members often branded witnesses as "red" if they refused to comply or hesitated in answering committee questions.

POLICY OF DÉTENTE : The term is often used in reference to the general easing of the geo-political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States which began in 1969

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Examples : Détente was known in Russian as разрядка ("razryadka", loosely meaning "relaxation of tension").

Characteristics : • Détente ended after the Soviet

intervention in Afghanistan, which led to America's boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow

• There is still ongoing debate amongst historians as to how successful the détente period was in achieving peace

PEACE THROUGH STRENTH : is an ancient phrase and concept implying that strength of arms is a necessary component of peace.

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Examples : Ronald Reagan used the phrase in political campaigning during his election challenge against Jimmy Carter in 1980, accusing the incumbent of weak, vacillating leadership that invited enemies to attack the USA and its allies.

CHARACTERISTICS : • The mock inversion "strength through

peace" has been used on occasion to draw criticism to the militaristic system of diplomacy advocated by "peace through strength".

• Dennis Kucinich adopted the slogan "Strength Through Peace" during his 2008 Presidential run, as part of his platform as a peace candidate in opposition to the Iraq War.[28]

STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE : was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983,[1] to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles

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Examples : The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic offense doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD).

Characteristics : • Under the administration of President

Bill Clinton in 1993, its name was changed to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) and its emphasis was shifted from national missile defense to theater missile defense;

SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT : is a Polish trade union federation that emerged on 31 August 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyard under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa

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Examples : Solidarity reached 9.5 million members before its September 1981 Congress (up to 10 million[1][2]) that constituted one third of the total working age population of Poland.

Characteristics : • It was the first non–communist party-

controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country

• the United States provided significant financial support for Solidarity, estimated to be as much as 50 million US dollars