The Middle East: Vocab

Question 1

Caliph

Answer 1

Caliph originally meant simply “successor” (to the founder of Islam). But the term came to refer to a universal Muslim ruler.

Question 2

Fertile Crescent

Answer 2

A term refering to a crescent-shaped area reaching from the Nile Valley through the easter shore of the mediterranean to Mesopotamia. This area is commonly called the Middle East.

Question 3

Autonomous

Answer 3

Independent

Question 4

Sultan

Answer 4

A Muslim sovereign

Question 5

Monotheistic

Answer 5

A religion in which its followers adhere to the idea of one God.

Question 6

Koran

Answer 6

The holy book of Islam.

Question 7

Protectorate

Answer 7

A relationship of protection and partial control that a superior power assumes of a dependent country or region.

Question 8

Mandate

Answer 8

A commission, or an assignment, from the league of Nations authorizing a member nation to administer a territory.

Question 9

Confessionalism

Answer 9

A system of allocating offices among different religious and ethnic groups. it was meant to give each group its fair share of power.

Question 10

Zionism

Answer 10

A movement to establish a home in Palestine for the world’s Jews.

Question 11

Partition

Answer 11

To divide

Question 12

Emigrant

Answer 12

Someone who travels out of one place to settle in another.

Question 13

Nascent

Answer 13

Developing

Question 14

White Paper

Answer 14

A statement of government policy.

Question 15

Viable

Answer 15

Able to survive

Question 16

Yishuv

Answer 16

The Jewish community in Palestine before statehood.

Question 17

Clandestine

Answer 17

Secret

Question 18

Annex

Answer 18

Take over

Question 19

Concession

Answer 19

A thing that is granted, especially in response to demands

Question 20

Nationalize

Answer 20

To put under state control

Question 21

Diaspora

Answer 21

The scattering of the Jews far from their traditional homeland

Question 22

Pogroms

Answer 22

Organized persecutions or massacres

Question 23

Conscripts

Answer 23

Draftees

Question 24

Gross national product

Answer 24

The sum total of a country’s output of goods and services

Question 25

Embargo

Answer 25

A ban on trade

Question 26

Knesset

Answer 26

The Israeli parliament

Question 27

Intifada

Answer 27

A period of violence that means 'uprising'

Question 28

Constitutional Monarchy

Answer 28

A government by a king or queen whose powers are limited by the constitution and laws ofthe country.

Question 29

Coup d'etat

Answer 29

A sudden takeover of a government

Question 30

pan-Arabism

Answer 30

A movement for greater cooperation among the Arab states

Question 31

Status quo antebellum

Answer 31

The state of theings before the war

Question 32

WMD

Answer 32

Chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons that can kill large numbers of people in one use

Question 33

Terrorism

Answer 33

Premediated, politically motivated violence against noncombatants by subnational groups or clandestine agents, generally to influence an audience

Question 34

International terrorism

Answer 34

Terrorism that involves the citizens or territory of more than one country

Question 35

Terrorist group

Answer 35

Any group that practices terrorism or has a subgroup that does

Question 36

Agenda

Answer 36

A set of goals to achieve

Question 37

Figurehead

Answer 37

The one that is supposedly in charge

Question 38

Proxy

Answer 38

A stand-in

Question 39

Sharia

Answer 39

Islamic religious law

Question 40

Wahhabism

Answer 40

An austere form of Sunni isalm, a so-called reform movement that began 20 years ago to rid Islamic societies of practices and teachings acquired over the centuries.

Question 41

Caliphate

Answer 41

The Arab political unity of Islam's golden age, centered in Baghdad

Question 42

Insurgency

Answer 42

Organized rebelliontrying to overthrow a government

Question 43

Transnational

Answer 43

Active across international borders

Question 44

Reactionary

Answer 44

Opposed to progress

Question 45

Safe haven

Answer 45

A space that provides a secure base for extremist action

Question 46

crude

Answer 46

Another name for oil

Question 47

Oil reserves

Answer 47

the supply of crude oil that a country can retrieve

Question 48

Cartel

Answer 48

A group of independent entities that brand together to control the price of a commodity

Question 49

Quotas

Answer 49

Limits

Question 50

Burqa

Answer 50

A full-body covering for women that is hard to see out of or walk in comfortably

Question 51

Nuclear nonproliferation

Answer 51

Preventing the spread and increase of nuclear weapons

Question 52

Superpowers

Answer 52

Militarily superior countries