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(OPEC) Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries; an international cartel that inflates the price of oil by limiting supply; Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and UAE are prominent members. -
Detente
From the French for "reduced tension," the period of Cold War thawing when the United States and the Soviet Union negotiated reduced armament treaties under Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter. As a policy prescription, it marked a departure from the policies of proportional response, mutually assured destruction, and containment that had defined the earlier years of the Cold War. -
Environmentalism (EPA)
A governmental organization signed into law by Richard Nixon in 1970 designed to regulate pollution, emissions, and other factors that negatively influence the natural environment. The creation of it marked a newfound commitment by the federal government to actively combat environmental risks and was a significant triumph for the environmentalist movement. -
Watergate Scandal
Series of scandals that resulted in President Richard Nixon's resignation amid calls for his impeachment. The episode sprang from a failed burglary attempt at Democratic party headquarters in Washington's Watergate Hotel during the 1972 election. -
Camp David Accords
A historic peace agreement negotiated between Egypt and Israel at the U.S. Presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland; under the pact, Israel agreed to return captured territory to Egypt and to negotiate Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
The diplomatic crisis triggered on Nov 4, 1979, when Iranian protesters seized the US embassy in Tehran and held 66 American diplomats hostage for 444 days. Carter was unable to free the hostages despite several attempts; too many, this event symbolized the paralysis of American power in the late 1970s.
