Glossary

Definitions of terms used throughout CountryReports.

This glossary contains 1,144 terms used throughout CountryReports — political, economic, cultural, historical, and geographic terminology referenced in country profiles and articles. Terms are drawn from authoritative sources including the Library of Congress.

communism/communist: The official ideology of the Soviet Union (q.v.), based on Marxism-Leninism, which provided for a system of authoritarian government in which the CPSU (q.v.) alone controlled state-owned means of production. It sought to establish a society in which the state withered away and goods and services were distributed equitably. A communist is an adherent or advocate of communism.; Source: Library of Congress
Marxism-Leninism/Marxist-Leninist: The ideology of communism, developed by Karl Marx and refined and adapted to social and economic conditions in Russia by Lenin, which guided the communist parties of many countries including Albania and the Soviet Union. Marx talked of the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat after the overthrow of the bourgeoisie as a transitional socialist phase before the achievement of communism. Lenin added the idea of a communist party as the vanguard or leading force in promoting the proletarian revolution and building communism. Stalin and subsequent East European leaders, including Enver Hoxha, contributed their own interpretations of the ideology.; Source: Library of Congress
socialism (adj., socialist): In Marxist theory a stage of historical development transitional between capitalism and communism. Romania claimed to have attained socialism by 1965.
socialism/socialist: According to Marxism-Leninism (q.v.), the first phase of communism (q.v.). A transition from capitalism in which the means of production are state owned and whose guiding principle is ""from each according to his abilities, to each according to his work."" Soviet socialism bore scant resemblance to the democratic socialism that some West European countries adopted in the twentieth century.
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.
Third International Theory: Major tenet of Qadhafi’s revolutionary ideology, which purports to offer nonaligned states what is regarded as the Third World political, economic, and social alternatives to Western capitalism and East European communism. Frequently seen as the Third Universal Theory, or simply the Third Theory.