the possibility of local wars escalating into all-out atomic war
1escalate — is a 1920s back formation from escalator (first recorded in 1900), and has burst the bounds of meaning that a word for a moving staircase might be expected to impose. Not surprisingly, escalate is now rarely used in its first meaning ‘to travel… …
2Cold War — For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). United States President …
3World war — A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world s most powerful and populous nations. World wars have spanned several continents, and lasted for many years. History has shown that as a world war progresses, involved nations devote more… …
4international relations — a branch of political science dealing with the relations between nations. [1970 75] * * * Study of the relations of states with each other and with international organizations and certain subnational entities (e.g., bureaucracies and political… …
5United States — a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 267,954,767; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with… …
6Military Affairs — ▪ 2009 Introduction Russia and Georgia fought a short, intense war in 2008, fueling global fears of a new Cold War. On August 7 Georgia launched an aerial bombardment and ground attacks against its breakaway province of South Ossetia.… …
7Harry Turtledove's Darkness — The Darkness Series is a series of six fantasy novels by Harry Turtledove.* Into the Darkness (1999) * Darkness Descending (2000) * Through the Darkness (2001) * Rulers of the Darkness (2002) * Jaws of the Darkness (2003) * Out of the Darkness… …
8performing arts — arts or skills that require public performance, as acting, singing, or dancing. [1945 50] * * * ▪ 2009 Introduction Music Classical. The last vestiges of the Cold War seemed to thaw for a moment on Feb. 26, 2008, when the unfamiliar strains …
9UNITED STATES OF AMERICA — UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, country in N. America. This article is arranged according to the following outline: introduction Colonial Era, 1654–1776 Early National Period, 1776–1820 German Jewish Period, 1820–1880 East European Jewish Period,… …
10japan — japanner, n. /jeuh pan /, n., adj., v., japanned, japanning. n. 1. any of various hard, durable, black varnishes, originally from Japan, for coating wood, metal, or other surfaces. 2. work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner. 3. Japans,… …
