| A | B |
|---|
| Legislative Veto | The rejection of a presidential or administrative-agency action by a vote of one or both houses of Congress. Declared unconstitutional in 1983. |
| War Powers Act (1973) | Act passed by Congress in 1973 to restrict the president's ability to use military force. |
| Senate Foreign Relations Committee | Senate committee responisible for formulating and enacting legislation involving foreign policy. |
| Boland Amendment | Prevented, for specifically stated periods, intelligence agencies from supplying military aid to the Nicaraguan contras. |
| National Security Council | A committee including the vice president, the secretaries of state and defense, the director of the CIA, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Designed to help shape foreign policy and bring a balanced account of foreign policy decisions in front of the president. |
| National Security Advisor | Presiding member of the National Security Council, accompanied by a staff of about a dozen people. Can be a powerful instrument for formulating and directing foreign policy. |
| Iran-Contra | Scandal during the Reagan administration invloving the secret sale of arms to Iran to help finance guerrilla fighters in Nicaragua. |
| Central Intelligence Agency | Agency responsible for gathering and analyzing information and conducting covert operations abroad. |
| Isolationist | A theory stating that the American military should not get involved in Europian or other regions' wars. |
| Internationalist | A theory calling for an active, extroverted policy on foreign relations. |
| "rally around the flag" Effect | Effect where the president's popularity is boosted through a military crisis, often following some sort of humanitarian disaster. |
| Iron Curtain and the Cold War | A military standoff between the United States and the USSR that involved the trade and culture barrier set up by the communist regime in Russia. Called the cold war because no actual military engagement took place. |
| Containment | A theory calling for the United States military to step in and take action in order to prevent the spread of oppresive government. |
| Domino Theory | Theory, introduced by president Eisenhower in 1954, stating the idea that if one nation were to be invaded and transformed into a communists nation, other nations would begin to go communist. |
| Munich | A failed summit that attempted to contain the military forces of Hitler through talks and compromise that failed miserably. Used to fuel the argument for antiappeasement during the Cold War. |
| Appeasement | Theory calling for the taking of a nonmilitary route to compromise with oppressive regimes and allowing them some expansion. |
| Disengagement | Theory stating that the military whould not be used to limit Soviet expanision, because the use of military force was both harmful to the United States, but also further encouraged the spread of Communism. |
| Human Rights | Theory supporting the engagement of military forces in action to protect the human rights of indivuals threatened by oppressive regimes. |
