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Glossary Terms
| Term (EN) | Definition | Exam Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Unipolarity | Single dominant power in international system | Post-1991 US dominance |
| Bipolarity | Two dominant powers (as in Cold War) | US-USSR era |
| Multipolarity | Multiple roughly equal power centres | Emerging order from 2008 |
| Hegemony | Dominance of one state over others economically, militarily, culturally | US post-Cold War |
| Non-Alignment | Policy of not joining military blocs (NAM, 1961) | India's Cold War policy |
| Strategic Autonomy | Independent foreign policy engaging all powers without binding alliances | India's current policy |
| Containment | US Cold War strategy to prevent Soviet expansion | Truman Doctrine (1947) |
| Détente | Easing of Cold War tensions (1970s) | Nixon-Brezhnev era |
| Washington Consensus | IMF/World Bank neoliberal prescriptions (privatisation, deregulation, free trade) | Post-Cold War development |
| Soft Power | Cultural and ideational influence (Joseph Nye, 1990) | US cultural hegemony |
| Hard Power | Military and economic coercive power | Contrasted with soft power |
| Smart Power | Combination of hard and soft power | Hillary Clinton's formulation |
| GWOT | Global War on Terror — post-9/11 US strategy | Afghanistan, Iraq wars |
| FATF | Financial Action Task Force — monitors terror/money laundering financing | Pakistan grey list 2018–22 |
| BRI | China's global infrastructure investment programme (2013) | China's power projection |
| Article 5 (NATO) | Collective defence — attack on on all | Invoked first time 9/11 |
| Thucydides Trap | Rising power's challenge to established power leads to war (Graham Allison) | US-China rivalry |
| NPT | Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) — P5 + 185 non-nuclear states | India, Pakistan outside |
| ISIS/ISIL/Daesh | Takfiri terrorist organisation; caliphate 2014–19 | Global terrorism |
| Hybrid Warfare | Mix of conventional + cyber + disinformation + proxy forces | Russia-Ukraine; China |
| State-sponsored terrorism | State funding/sheltering of terrorist groups | Pakistan-LeT links |
| Multilateralism | Coordination among multiple states in international institutions | UN, WTO, G-20 |