Glossary

Arab oil embargo

In response to American support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the Arab oil-producing nations stopped shipping oil to the United States. The oil crisis of the 1970s brought an end to an era of cheap and ample energy and heightened American awareness about the environment and the need for conservation.

Brezhnev Doctrine

Soviet Communist party chief Leonid Brezhnev in 1976 asserted the right of the Soviet Union to intervene anywhere it believed necessary to protect its interests.

Camp David Accords

President Carter invited the leaders of Israel and Egypt to Camp David, the presidential mountain retreat in Maryland, to discuss peace between the two countries. The meeting resulted in the Camp David Accords, which were denounced by other Arab nations.

Desert Storm

President Bush's popularity soared when he successfully deployed American forces under UN mandate to compel Iraq to abandon oil-rich Kuwait, which it had annexed in 1990. The military operation, headed by General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, was known as Desert Storm.

glasnost

In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev acceded to power in the Soviet Union and instituted a sweeping program of political liberalization known as glasnost and economic reform known as perestroika.

John Dean

Dean was a young man who served as the president's legal counsel while Nixon's top aides covered up illegal activities committed by White House operatives. He later told the tale of crime to the Senate investigating committee. The White House tapes confirmed his story.

OPEC

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) took advantage of the growing demand for petroleum to raise oil prices significantly, surprising the American automobile industry and setting off a spiral of inflation.

Reagan Doctrine

In 1985 Reagan announced U.S. support for anti-Communist revolutions. This doctrine received its most controversial application in Nicaragua, where Reagan circumvented Congress by selling arms to Iran and using the profits to buy arms for CIA-supported revolutionaries. The ensuing scandal threatened the Reagan presidency.

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