| A | B |
|---|
| totalitarianism | a theory of governmetn in which a single party or leader controls the economic, social, and cultural lives of its people |
| containment | policy of keeping communism contained within its existing borders and not allowing it to spread |
| arms race | contest in which nations compete to build more powerful weapons |
| mutually assured distruction | policy in which the United States and the Soviet Union hoped to deter nuclear war by building up enough weapons to destroy one another |
| detente | the easing of strained relations between countries |
| domino theory | idea that if a nation falls to communism, its closest neighbors will also fall under communist control |
| credibility gap | American public's growing distrust of statements made by the government during the Vietnam War |
| vietnamization | President Nixon's plan for gradual withdrawal of US forces as South Vietnamese troops assumed more combat duties |
