Glossary — M

Glossary terms beginning with M.

missing-in-action (MIA): United States military term for servicemen who remained unaccounted for at the end of the Second Indochina War (q.v.). In the 1980s, rumors persisted that some MIAs were still alive and had been detained involuntarily in Vietnam after the war.
mita: A compulsory labor system implemented by the Spaniards to work the mines. Required that all able-bodied Indian men present themselves periodically for short periods of paid work in the mines. Was abused by inhumane treatment of the conscripts, arbitrary extensions of the service period, and depletion of individual communities of their adult males.; Source: Library of Congress
mita de minas: A compulsory labor system implemented by the Spaniards to work the mines. Required that all able-bodied native American men present themselves periodically for short periods of paid work in the mines. System led to abuses: inhumane treatment of the conscripts, arbitrary extensions of the service period, and depletion of adult males from individual communities.
mita system: A colonial system whereby all taxpayers had to work a prescribed number of days annually in the mita, or labor pool, to run the households of local leaders. Each taxpayer could be called up by his or her curaca (chief) to work on imperial or local projects at any convenient time.
moderating power (poder moderador): The constitutional function of the emperor during Brazil’s monarchy era to oversee or moderate the political system by intervening at times of political crisis or institutional deadlock. From the fall of the monarchy in 1889 to the 1964 military coup, the military assumed and delegated the moderating power on an extra-legal basis. Political scientist Alfred A. Stepan uses the term to describe the moderator model of civil-military relations in the sense of ""arbiter.""; Source: Library of Congress
mola: Literally, clothing, dress, or blouse in Cuna dialect, but has come to mean simply the single panel of a Cuna woman’s appliqued blouse. The panels feature colorful, intricately stitched, abstract or geometric designs; scenes of everyday Cuna life, lore, myths, legends, flora, and fauna; or ideas or images from the outside world.
Moldavia (var., Moldova and Moldau): Former principality, east of Transylvania (q.v.) and north and east of Walachia (q.v.).
Moldova: Former principality, one of two major historical regions inhabited by a Romanian-speaking population (along with Walachia, q.v.). Moldovan territory east of the Prut River was added to the original Bessarabia (q.v.), and the entire region was called Bessarabia when it was annexed by the Russian Empire (q.v.) in 1812. Also the name of a region in modern Romania.; Source: Library of Congress
MOLIRENA: Movimiento Liberal Republicano Nacional (National Liberal Republican Movement). Pro-business coalition of several center-right political movements. Part of opposition coalition ADO (q.v.).
monetarists: Advocates of monetarism, an economic policy based on the control of a country’s money supply. Monetarists assume that the quantity of money in an economy determines its economic activity, particularly its rate of inflation. A rapid increase in the money supply creates rising prices, resulting in inflation. To curb inflationary pressures, governments need to reduce the supply of money and raise interest rates. Monetarists believe that conservative monetary policies, by controlling inflation, will increase export earnings and encourage foreign and domestic investments. Monetarists have generally sought support for their policies from the International Monetary Fund (q.v.), the World Bank Group (q.v.), and private enterprise, especially multinational corporations. The University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman is considered to be a leading monetarist.
Moor: In Tripolitania (q.v.), an urban Arab during the dynastic and Ottoman periods. The term Arab was reserved specifically for the beduins.
Moorish: Refers specifically to the cultural attributes common to Muslim Spain and the Maghrib after the twelfth century.
moriscos: Spanish Muslims.
Moro: Spanish word for Moor; name given by Spanish to Muslim Filipinos and still used. Moros mostly inhabit southern and eastern Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago, and Palawan and have not become assimilated into the mainstream of Philippine society.
moshav (pl., moshavim): A cooperative smallholders’ settlement of individual farms in Israel. Individuals own their farms and personal property. Work is organized collectively, equipment is used cooperatively, and produce is marketed jointly. There are several variants including the moshav ovdim, a workers’ cooperative settlement, and the moshav shitufi, a collective smallholders’ settlement that combines the economic features of a kibbutz (q.v.) with the social features of a moshav. Farming is done collectively, and profits are shared equally.; Source: Library of Congress
most-favored-nation status: Under the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), when one country accords another most-favored- nation status it agrees to extend to that country the same trade concessions, e.g., lower tariffs or reduced nontariff barriers, which it grants to any other recipients having most-favored- nation status. As of January 1992, Albania had not been a member of GATT and had not received most-favored-nation status from the United States.; Source: Library of Congress
mostazafin: Literally, the disinherited; originally a religious term for the poor, which has become popularized.
Mount Lebanon: A term first used during the Ottoman era to designate the central part of the Lebanon Mountains inhabited mostly by Maronites and Druzes. After 1864 the area was administered as a separate entity and Christians prospered. Most of the region surrounding Mount Lebanon (often called simply ""the Mountain"") was considered part of Greater Syria, an area that encompassed present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. In 1920, while under the French Mandate, parts of Greater Syria (q.v.) were annexed to Mount Lebanon to create Greater Lebanon. This newly established territory eventually became the present- day state of Lebanon.
muang (muong): Administrative district; also an independent principality; comprises several tasseng (q.v.), second order administrative divisions.
mufti: Religious jurist who issues judgments and opinions on Islamic law and precedent.
muhafazaat (sing., muhafazat): Governorates into which Libya’s three traditional regions were divided in 1963. Each was headed by a governor (muhafiz). The muhafazat were abolished in 1975.
muhajir: Immigrant or descendant of immigrants from India who fled to Pakistan after partition in 1947.
mujahidin (sing., mujahid): Fighters of a jihad, a Muslim holy war; Afghan freedom fighters.
Mukti Bahini: Literally, liberation force, frequently taken to mean freedom fighters; the pro-Awami League (q.v.) military forces that led civil war against the Pakistani Army in 1971.; Source: Library of Congress
mullah: Generic term for a member of the Islamic clergy; usually refers to a preacher or other low-ranking cleric who has not earned the right to interpret religious laws.
multilaterally developed socialist state: The proclaimed goal for Romania’s social and economic development to be achieved by the year 2000. The goal envisioned an industrially advanced socialist nation with an efficient and productive agriculture and a well-educated population enjoying a high standard of living.
Munich Agreement: An agreement in September 1938 between Germany, Italy, Britain, and France calling on Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland (q.v.) to Germany and smaller parts of its territory to Hungary and Poland.
Muslim League: See All-India Muslim League.
mustahaqeen: Muslims deserving of receiving zakat (q.v.) as stipulated in the Quran, such as the poor, the needy, recent converts to Islam, those who do the good works of God, and those who collect and disburse zakat.
muta: A temporary marriage, the duration of which is stipulated by contract. Only Twelver Shias (q.v.) recognize muta marriages.
mutawwiin: Literally, those who volunteer or obey; sometimes known by popular name of Committees for Public Morality, or more formally, as the Committees for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.