| A | B |
|---|
| Mikhail Gorbachev | The first general secretary of the Communist Party, initiated peace talks with the United States to lessen Cold War tensions. |
| INF Treaty | Intermediate-Rante- Nuclear Forces Treaty--a 1987 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union that eliminated some weapons systems and allowed for on-site inspections of military installations. |
| Glasnost | The open discussion of social problems that was permitted in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. |
| Perestroika | The restructuring of the economy and the government instituted in the Soviet Untion in the 1980s. |
| Commonwealth of Independent States | A loose confederation of former Soviet states, established after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. |
| Tiananmen Square | The site of 1989 demonstrations in Beijing, China, in which Chinese students demanded freedom of speech and a greater voice in government. |
| Sandinista | Belonging to a leftist group that overthrew the Nicaraguan government in 1979. |
| Contras | Nicaraguan rebels who recieved assistance from the Reagan administration in thier efforts to overthrow the Sandinista government in the 1980s. |
| Operation Desert Storm | A 1991 military operation in which UN forces, led by the United States, drove Iraqi invaders from Kuwait. |
| Bill Clinton | Democratic governor of Arkansas who was elected President in 1992. |
| Twenty-seventh Amendment | Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1992, that prevents Congressional pay raises from taking effect until after the next election has occured. |
| Hillary Rodham Clinton | President Clinton's wife, who he appointed to head a task force on health-care reform. |
| NAFTA | The North American Free Trade Agreement--a 1993 treaty that lowered tariffs and brought Mexico into the free-trade zone established by the United States and Canada. |
| Newt Gingrich | A republican congressman from Georgia who drafted the Contract with America. |
| Contract with America | A document that was drafed by Representative Newt Gingrich and signed by more than 300 Republican candidates in 1994, setting forth the Republicans' conservative legislative agenda. |
