| African Union (AU) | The continent's leading intergovernmental organization; all of Africa's countries but Morocco are members. The successor to the Organization of African Unity.
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| Deterrence | Persuading an opponent not to attack by having enough forces to disable the attack and/or launch a punishing counterattack.
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| National technical means (NTM) | An arms control verification technique that involves using satellites, seismic measuring devices, and other equipment to identify, locate, and monitor the manufacturing, testing, or deployment of weapons or delivery vehicles, or other aspects of treaty compliance.
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| Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) | A multilateral treaty concluded in 1968, then renewed and made permanent in 1995. The parties to the treaty agree not to transfer nuclear weapons or in any way to "assist, encourage, or induce any non-nuclear state to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons." Non-nuclear signatories of the NPT also agree not to build or accept nuclear weapons.
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| North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) | An alliance of 26 member-countries, established in 1949 by Canada, the United States, and most of the countries of Western Europe to defend its members from outside, presumably Soviet-led, attack. In the era after the cold war, NATO has begun to admit members from Eastern Europe and has also expanded its mission to include peacekeeping.
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| on-site inspections (OSI) | An arms control verification technique that involves stationing your or a neutral country's personnel in another country to monitor weapons or delivery vehicle manufacturing, testing, deployment, or other aspects of treaty compliance.
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| Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) | Series of conferences among 34 NATO, former Soviet bloc, and neutral European countries that led to permanent organization. Established by the 1976 Helsinki Accords.
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| peacekeeping | The use of military means by an international organization such as the United Nations to prevent fighting, usually by acting as a buffer between combatants. The international force is neutral between the combatants and must have been invited to be present by at least one of the combatants. See also Collective security.
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| Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START ) | A nuclear weapons treaty signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1991 and later re-signed with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine that will limit Russia and the United States to 1,600 delivery vehicles and 6,000 strategic explosive nuclear devices each, with the other three countries destroying their nuclear weapons or transferring them to Russia.
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| Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START II) | A nuclear weapons treaty signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1993, which established nuclear warhead and bomb ceilings of 3,500 for the United States and 2,997 for Russia by the year 2003 and that also eliminated some types of weapons systems. In a largely symbolic move, the Russian parliament ratified the treaty in 2000, but later announced it would no longer be bound by its provisions.
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| strategic-range delivery vehicles | A missile or bomber capable of delivering weapons at a distance of more than 5,500 kilometers (3,416.8 miles).
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| transnational terrorism | Terrorism carried out either across national borders or by groups that operate in more than one country.
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| transnational terrorist groups | Those that operate across borders or that have cells and members in more than one country.
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| weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) | Generally deemed to be nuclear weapons with a tremendous capability to destroy a population and the planet, but also include some exceptionally devastating conventional arms, such as fuel-air explosives, as well as biological and chemical weapons. Weapons of mass destruction warfare refers to the application of force between countries using biological, chemical, and/or nuclear weapons.
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