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Brezhnev Doctrine
The Brezhnev Doctrine was the Soviet policy (articulated after the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia) asserting Moscow's right to intervene militarily in any socialist state where socialism was deemed under threat. It effectively limited the sovereignty of all Warsaw Pact members until renounced by Gorbachev in 1988.
Brinkmanship
A foreign policy strategy in which the United States and the Soviet Union would escalate dangerous disputes to the edge of all-out war in order to force the other side to back down
Gulag
The Main Administration of Camps, a vast Soviet network of forced labor camps where millions of political prisoners, criminals, and perceived enemies of the state were imprisoned. The Gulag served both as a tool of political repression and as a source of forced labor for economic projects.
Neutrality
Sihanouk’s foreign policy attempt to avoid siding openly with the US or communists.
Nuclear parity
A situation in which two rival powers possess roughly equal nuclear arsenals in terms of quantity and destructive capability, meaning neither side holds a decisive strategic advantage.
Politburo
Politburo was the highest policy-making body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, responsible for all major political and economic decisions. Its members were the most powerful figures in the USSR.
Revisionism
Term used by Mao to describe policies that weakened revolutionary ideology.
Spheres of Influence
Areas of the world where a great power claims exclusive or dominant influence over the political and economic affairs of other states.
Ultimatum
a final demand or statement of terms issued by one party to another, with the threat of serious consequences if the terms are not accepted.