M - Z


MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction, strategic doctrine which guarantees that each side in a nuclear exchange would survive a first strike by its opponent with enough arms intact to launch a second-strike sufficient to destroy the aggressor (also see Doctrine of Flexible Response)

massive retaliation: a a nuclear strategy which calls for a nuclear response to any aggressive action

MFN: Most Favoured Nation: every member is treated as well as the "most favoured one": ie: if U.S. offers low tariff to Canada on ice cubes: every other GATT member is entitled to the same treatment (see also free trade, GATT)

MIRV'S: multiple independently targetted re-entry vehicles (see also ICBM'S)

monetarism: a policy of manipulating the money supply (inflating or deflating a currency) to influence economic growth

monoculture: refers to the use of one genetic strain of plant or animal to replace a diversity of strains

multiple-sum game: both actors can mutually gain (also see zero-sum game)

natural law: the idea there existed rights and duties attached to human beings as such that existed in all times and all places, that could be discovered by reason, and that should be applied in the relations between groups

negative peace: the absence of war and physical (direct) violence (also see positive peace)

netwar: the primary objective of "netwar" is to use computer networks and databases to inflict cultural and political damage to the international image of the opponent.

news values: the criteria for determining what kinds of stories are reported; used to identify, define and present a story

NIEO: United Nations Resolution of May 1974 for a New International Economic Order to address concerns of LDC's

Non-Aligned Movement: loose organization of Third World countries which dealt with statements on a wide variety of issues from nuclear proliferation to trade and development, first meeting: Bandung, Indonesia, 1955, led by a few relatively strong, independent personalities: Tito, Nehru, and Nasser (Yugoslavia, India, Egypt) (see also UNCTAD, NIEO)

non-governmental organization (NGO): any private organization involved in activities that have transnational implications.

nuclear fission: relies on splitting heavy atoms (uranium and plutonium) into smaller elements (used to make the A-bomb)

nuclear fusion: relies on forcing two hydrogen atoms together, and in the process destroying some extra matter that is converted into energy (called H-bomb)

NWIO: New World Information and Communication Order, begun in the 1970s around the same time as the Group of 77 launched its drive for a NIEO, called for a more balanced flow of communications globally, development of communication infrastructure in LDC's, control or elimination of information monopolies, and respect for each people's cultural identity

OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, organization of 29 industrialized countries

OPEC: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies: cartel of oil producers formed to control the price and supply of oil on world markets

perestroika: 'restructuring', a term used by Mikhail Gorbachev to describe his plans to reform, modernize and partly decentralize the Soviet economy (also see glasnost)

positive peace: the absence of structural violence as well as direct violence (see also negative peace)

protectionism: protecting your economy from the international economy by imposing various restrictions on flow of imports or exports of goods or services into or out of your country (see also free trade)

reserve currency: a currency that countries hold in reserve because of its strength and stability

security dilemma: a situation in which states' actions taken to assure their own security, tend to threaten the security of other states

self-help: necessity to rely on a states' own resources and capabilities

SLBM's: submarine-launched ballistic missiles

specie money: solid money (gold or silver, traditionally)

spheres of influence: an area declared by a Great Power to be its exclusive area of interest, where it acts to defend its dominance and to exclude other Great Powers.

SOP's: standard operating procedures

sovereignty: means a government has the right, at least in principle, to do whatever it liks in its own territory (also see state)

structural power: the power to change the rules of the game for others, the power to structure the choices of other actors

structural violence: latent or hidden forms of social conflict

state: an organized political entity that occupies a definite territory, has a permanent population, and enjoys stable government, independence and sovereignty

Stockholm Conference: UN Conference on the Human Environment, held 1972, was first worldwide environmental conference in history

sustainable development: term coined by Brundtland Commission Report 1987, defined as development which can "ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"

terms of trade: the ratio in prices between a country's exports and its imports

Truman Doctrine: a promise of US aid to all 'free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside powers" (also see Brezhnev Doctrine)

UNCED: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio 1992. Effort by the int. Community to reach consensus on principles and a long-term workplan for global sustainable development, major output was Agenda 21 (referring to the Twenty-First Century), a global plan of action containing 294 pages encompassing every sectoral environmental issues as well as international policies affecting both environment and development and the full range of domestic social and economic policies.

UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: formed 1964: first Secretary General Raul Prebisch: called for reform of system of international trade based on liberalism and comparative advantage, in order to assist development of poor countries, included calls for a GSP and IPC (see also NIEO)

war: legitimate use of organized violence or force to achieve "goods" (also see conflict)

zero-sum game: one actors' gain is another's loss

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" Woods are lovely dark and deep But i have promises to keep And miles to go before i sleep "