Glossary — S

Glossary terms beginning with S.

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO): Established in September 1954 as a result of the 1954 Geneva Agreements to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. SEATO never had an active military role and was ultimately disbanded in June 1977 following the success of the communist movements in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam in 1975. Original signatories to SEATO were Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States.
Southern Cone: name for area of South America consisting of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Southern Cone Common Market: See Mercosur.
Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics--USSR): Founded December 1922; dissolved in December 1991. The Soviet Union included the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (originally called the Moldavian Autonomous Oblast) from 1924 until 1940, at which time the Soviet government created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic on somewhat different territory until 1941. In 1947 the Soviet Union regained control until Moldova declared its independence in August 1991. The Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was established in 1919 and remained a part of the Soviet Union until it declared its independence in August 1991.
sovkhoz: See state farm.
special drawing rights (SDRs): Monetary units of the International Monetary Fund (q.v.) based on a basket of international currencies including the United States dollar, the German deutsche mark, the Japanese yen, the British pound sterling, and the French franc.
special economic zones: Small coastal areas established beginning in 1979 to promote economic development and introduction of advanced technology through foreign investment. Special preferential terms and facilities are offered to outside investors in taxation, land-use fees, and entry and exit control for joint ventures, cooperative ventures, and enterprises with sole foreign investment. Special economic zones have greater decision-making power in economic activities than provincial-level units. Market regulation is primary.
spot oil: Oil sold on the open market without any precontractual arrangement.
SRC.: Students Representative Council (equal to SGAs in the United States).
Sri Lankan Tamils: Approximately two-thirds of the Tamils and those who have lived in Sri Lanka for many centuries. The Sri Lankan Tamils enjoy full voting rights. See also Tamils.
SSS.: Senior Secondary School.
Stabex system: A system of export earnings stabilization set up by the European Community (EC) in accordance with the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states. Under the system, the EC helps developing countries withstand fluctuations in the price of their agricultural products by paying compensation for lost export earnings.
Stalinism/Stalinist: The authoritarian practices, including mass terror, and bureaucratic applications of the principles of Marxism-Leninism (q.v.) in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and in East European communist countries.; Source: Library of Congress
state capitalism: A development model or strategy centered on the state, which directly controls and manages, through government agencies and public mixed corporations, most of the basic industry and infrastructure and uses incentives or disincentives to guide growth in the private sector in accordance with development priorities.; Source: Library of Congress
state farm (sovetskoye khozyaystvo: sovkhoz)--A government-owned and government-managed agricultural enterprise where workers are paid salaries. Still in existence in 1997.
state farm (sovkhoz in Russian): Under the communist regime, a government-owned and government- managed agricultural enterprise (q.v.) in which workers were paid salaries.
state of exception: States of assembly, siege, emergency, and catastrophe that may be declared under Article 40 of the constitution by the president of the republic, with the consent of the National Security Council, cover the following exceptional situations, respectively: a foreign war, an internal war or internal commotion, an internal disturbance, and an emergency or public calamity.
statist: One who advocates the concentration of all economic controls and planning in the hands of a highly centralized government.
steppe: The vast, semiarid, grass-covered plain in the southeastern portion of Europe, extending into Asia.; Source: Library of Congress
Stern Gang: See Lehi.
Straits Chinese: Chinese born in the Straits Settlements (q.v.) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and more oriented to Southeast Asia than to China. They often spoke Malay or English as their first language.
Straits Settlements: Trading ports along the Strait of Malacca that were under direct British rule during the colonial period in contrast to the Malay States, which retained their native rulers. Governed from 1826 as part of British India, the Straits Settlements became a crown colony in 1867. Although the major Settlements were Singapore, Penang, and Malacca, the Straits Settlements also included Dindings, south of Penang, and Labuan Island, off the northern coast of Borneo.
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START): Name of two treaties. START I, signed in July 1991 by the Soviet Union and the United States, significantly reduced limits for the two parties’ intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and their associated launchers and warheads; submarine-launched ballistic missile launchers and warheads; and heavy bombers and their armaments, including long-range nuclear air-launched cruise missiles. START II, signed in January 1993 by Russia and the United States but still unratified by Russia in mid-1997, further reduced strategic offensive arms of both sides by eliminating all ICBMs with multiple-warhead independently targeted reentry vehicles (MIRVs) and reducing the overall total of warheads for each side to between 3,000 and 3,500. In 1997 an important part of Russia’s debate over future military and foreign policy.
structural adjustment loan: A program loan, often by the World Bank (q.v.), to effect a structural adjustment program to liberalize an economy. Programs involve maintaining a flexible exchange rate, lowering tariffs, removing quantitative restrictions on international trade, and relaxing price and other market controls.
structuralists: Advocates of structuralism, an economic policy that blames chronic inflation primarily on foreign trade dependency, insufficient local production, especially in agriculture, and political struggles among entrenched vested interests over government contracts. Structuralists advocate encouraging economic development and modernization through Keynesian and neo-Keynesian policies of governmental stimulative actions, accompanied by organizational reforms. Structuralists contend that monetarist (q.v.) policies retard growth and support the status quo.
subdistrict: upazila in Bangla (q.v.). A rural administrative subdivision of a district (q.v.). In 1988 there were 460 subdistricts in Bangladesh.; Source: Library of Congress
Sublime Porte (or Porte): The palace entrance that provided access to the chief minister of the Ottoman Empire, who represented the government and the sultan (q.v.). Term came to mean the Ottoman government.; Source: Library of Congress
sublineage: A segment of a lineage (q.v.) and organized on the same principles.
sucre (S/): The national currency. From 1971 to 1981, the sucre was pegged to the United States dollar at S/25=US$1. Because this rate overvalued the sucre and dampened exports, the government allowed a steady devaluation of the currency throughout the first half of the 1980s. By 1985, the official exchange rate averaged S/69=US$1. In August 1986, President León Febres Cordero Ribadeneyra (1984-88) transferred all private sector transactions to the higher free market rate and determined to close the gap between that rate and the official intervention rate through regular currency adjustments. The official rate averaged S/123=US$1 in 1986 and S/170=US$1 in 1987. Responding to growing external indebtedness, capital flight, and rising inflation, the free market rate climbed to S/400=US$1 by March 1988. In response, Febres Cordero established a controlled rate for imports and exports and limited movement to within 10 percent of the prevailing official rate of S/250=US$1. As was the case in the early 1980s, the severely overvalued official currency (the free market rate climbed to S/550=US41 by July 1988) hindered export activity. Upon assuming the presidency in August 1988, Rodrigo Borja Cevallos (1988- ) devalued the controlled rate to S/390=US$1 and adopted a program to further devalue the currency by 30 percent per year. In May 1989, Borja accelerated this program to nearly 40 percent per year. Consequently, the official rate averaged S/526=US$1 and had closed to within 6 percent of the free market rate.
Sudan: Geographical region (northern reaches now more commonly referred to as the Sahel) stretching across Africa from Cape Verde on the Atlantic Coast to the Red Sea between 8o and 16o north latitude, just south of the Sahara Desert, characterized by savanna and semiarid steppe. Term derived from Arabic bilad as sudan (literally ""land of the blacks""). Not to be confused with Sudan, the country.
Sudanese pound (£Sd): Sudanese currency consists of 1,000 millimes = 100 piasters = 1 Sudanese pound.
sudd: Barrier or obstruction; with lower case the term designates clumps of aquatic vegetation that block the Nile channel; with upper case, the term is used loosely for the entire White Nile swamps.
Sudetenland: An area in Czechoslovakia along the German border. Before World War II populated primarily by Germans. After the war most of the Germans were forcibly resettled in Germany.
Sufi(s): Comes from suf, the Arabic word for ""wool."" The term derives from the practice of wearing a woolen robe, a sign of dedicating oneself to the mystical life, known in Islam as becoming a Sufi. Sufis seek mystical union with God and have been condemned by some Sunni (q.v.) legal schools.
Sufism: See Sufi.; Source: Library of Congress
sultan: Title of the Almoravid, Hafsid, and Ottoman overlords of Libya. Considered the ultimate secular title for a Muslim ruler.
sunna: Body of customs and practices based on the Prophet Muhammad’s words and deeds as found in the Quran (q.v.) and the hadith (q.v.), which serve as guides to proper behavior for Muslims.
Sunni--(from Arabic sunna, tradition or precedent): A follower of the larger of the two primary denominations of Islam.
Sunni(s): The second largest Muslim sect in Lebanon. After Muhammad’s death, those followers who supported a traditional method of election based on community agreement became known as Sunnis; those who supported Ali as successor became known as Shias (q.v.). Sunnis primarily inhabit parts of West Beirut, the south-central coast, and the north. By custom, the prime minister is a Sunni.
Supreme Soviet (Verkhovnyy sovet in Russian): Under the communist regime, the lower tier of the legislature. Elected by the Congress of People’s Deputies (q.v.). The Moldovan Supreme Soviet changed its name to the Moldovan Parliament in May 1991 and declared the country sovereign one month later. The name of the Belarusian Supreme Soviet remained unchanged after Belarus declared its independence.; Source: Library of Congress
suq: Traditional North African bazaarlike open-air market.
suryng: Ancient Kogury term for ""leader""--Kim Il Sung’s highest, and usual, title.
sustainable development: Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.; Source: Library of Congress
Svejk: The fictional hero of Jaroslav Hasek’s The Good Soldier Svejk. He symbolizes characteristic Czech passive resistance.
swadeshi: Literally, of one’s own country. A preindependence movement to further the use of Indian-made items, particularly cottage-industry products, such as hand-loomed cloth, and to oppose British-made goods.