Glossary -- Georgia (Caucasus)
- Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS)
- Official designation of the former republics of the Soviet
Union that remained loosely federated in economic and security
matters of common concern after the Soviet Union disbanded as a
unified state in 1991. Members in early 1994 were Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova,
Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
- Communist Party of the Soviet Union
(CPSU)
- The official name of the communist party in the Soviet Union
after 1952. Originally the Bolshevik (majority) faction of a
prerevolutionary Russian party, the party was named the Russian
Communist Party (Bolshevik) from 1918 until it was renamed in 1952.
- Conference on Security and Cooperation
in Europe (CSCE)
- Originating in Helsinki in 1975, a grouping of all European
nations (the only exception, Albania, joined in 1991) that has
sponsored joint sessions and consultations on political issues
vital to European security.
- Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty
(CFE Treaty)
- An agreement signed in 1990 by the members of the Warsaw Treaty
Organization (Warsaw Pact--q.v.) and the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO--q.v.) to establish parity in
conventional weapons between the two organizations from the
Atlantic to the Urals. Included a strict system of inspections and
information exchange.
- coupon
- Generic term for bank-issued national currency certificates of
Georgia, introduced in early 1993. After introduction, value
declined rapidly; in October 1993, the exchange rate was
approximately 42,000 coupons per US$1.
- dram
- National currency of Armenia, officially established for use
concurrent with the Russian ruble in November 1993, to become
single official currency in early 1994. In November 1993, the
exchange rate was approximately 14 drams per US$1. A second
national unit, the luma (100 to the dram), was introduced in
February 1994.
- glasnost
- Russian term, literally meaning "openness." Applied in the
Soviet Union beginning in the mid-1980s to official permission for
public discussion of issues and public access to information.
Identified with the tenure of Mikhail S. Gorbachev as leader of the
Soviet Union.
- gross domestic product (GDP)
- The total value of goods and services produced exclusively
within a nation's domestic economy, in contrast to the gross
national product (q.v.). Normally computed over one-year
periods.
- gross national product (GNP)
- The total value of goods and services produced within a
country's borders and the income received from abroad by residents,
minus payments remitted abroad by nonresidents. Normally computed
over one-year periods.
- International Monetary Fund
(IMF)
- Established in 1945, a specialized agency affiliated with the
United Nations and responsible for stabilizing international
exchange rates and payments. Its main business is providing loans
to its members when they experience balance of payments
difficulties.
- Kurds
- A mainly Muslim people speaking an Indo-European language
similar to Persian. Kurds constitute significant minorities in
Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, with smaller groups in Armenia and Syria.
Despite international proposals in response to minority
persecution, never united in a single state.
- manat
- National currency of Azerbaijan. Introduced in mid-1992 for use
concurrent with the ruble; became sole official currency in January
1994. In October 1993, the exchange rate was 120 manats per US$1.
- millet
- In the Ottoman Empire, the policy for governance of non-Muslim
minorities. The system created autonomous communities ruled by
religious leaders responsible to the central government.
- net material product (NMP)
- In countries having centrally planned economies, the official
measure of the value of goods and services produced within the
country. Roughly equivalent to the gross national product
(q.v.), NMP is based on constant prices and does not
account for depreciation.
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
- During the postwar period until the dissolution of the Soviet
Union in 1991, the primary collective defense agreement of the
Western powers against the military presence of the Warsaw Pact
(q.v.) nations in Europe. Founded 1949. Its military and
administrative structure remained intact after 1991, but early in
1994 the Partnership for Peace proposed phased membership to all
East European nations and many former republics of the Soviet
Union.
- perestroika
- Russian term meaning "restructuring." Applied in the late 1980s
to an official Soviet program of revitalization of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU--q.v.), the economy, and
the society by adjusting economic, social, and political mechanisms
in the central planning system. Identified with the tenure of
Mikhail S. Gorbachev as leader of the Soviet Union.
- Shia
- The smaller of the great two divisions of Islam, supporting the
claims of Ali to leadership of the Muslim community, in opposition
to the Sunni (q.v.) view of succession to Muslim
leadership--the issue causing the central schism within Islam.
- Sunni
- The larger of the two fundamental divisions of Islam, opposed
to the Shia (q.v.) on the issue of succession of Muslim
leadership.
- value-added tax (VAT)
- A tax applied to the additional value created at a given stage
of production and calculated as a percentage of the difference
between the product value at that stage and the cost of all
materials and services purchased or introduced as inputs.
- Volunteer Society for Assistance to the
Army, Air Force, and Navy (DOSAAF)
- In the Soviet national defense system, the agency responsible
for paramilitary training of youth and reserve components.
- Warsaw Pact
- Informal name for the Warsaw Treaty Organization, a mutual
defense organization founded in 1955. Included the Soviet Union,
Albania (which withdrew in 1968), Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the
German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, and
Romania. The Warsaw Pact enabled the Soviet Union to station troops
in the countries of Eastern Europe to oppose the forces of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO--q.v.). The pact
was the basis for the invasions of Hungary (1956) and
Czechoslovakia (1968). Disbanded in July 1991.
- World Bank
- Informal name for a group of four affiliated international
institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD); the International Development Association
(IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); and the
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The four
institutions are owned by the governments of the countries that
subscribe their capital for credit and investment in developing
countries; each institution has a specialized agenda for aiding
economic growth in target countries. To participate in the World
Bank group, member states must first belong to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF--q.v.).
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