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coast guard

(Encyclopedia) coast guard, special naval force assigned to seaboard duties. Its primary responsibilities usually consist in suppressing contraband trade and aiding vessels in distress. The British…

House Un-American Activities Committee

(Encyclopedia) House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a committee (1938–75) of the U.S. House of Representatives, created to investigate disloyalty and subversive organizations. Its first…

John Birch Society

(Encyclopedia) John Birch Society, ultraconservative, anti-Communist organization in the United States. It was founded in Dec., 1958, by manufacturer Robert Welch, headquartered in Belmont, Mass.,…

Pentagon Papers

(Encyclopedia) Pentagon Papers, government study of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in June, 1967, the 47-volume, top secret study covered…

Pearson, Lester Bowles

(Encyclopedia) Pearson, Lester Bowles, 1897–1972, Canadian diplomat and political leader, b. Ontario prov. He served in the Canadian army in World War I. Pearson taught history at the Univ. of…

Bassiouni, M. Cherif

(Encyclopedia) Bassiouni, M. Cherif (Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni), 1937–2017, Egyptian-American international criminal law jurist and human-rights advocate, b. Cairo. Bassiouni fought for Egypt in the…

sphere of influence

(Encyclopedia) sphere of influence, term formerly applied to an area over which an outside power claims hegemony with the intention of subsequently gaining more definite control, as in colonization,…

finance

(Encyclopedia) finance, theory and practice of conducting large public and private dealings in money. Important institutions of private finance include those that deal with insurance, banking, stocks…

Comey, James Brien, Jr.

(Encyclopedia) Comey, James Brien, Jr., 1960–, American law enforcement official, b. Yonkers, N.Y., grad. William and Mary, 1982, Univ. of Chicago Law School, 1985. He was assistant U.S. attorney for…

Gbowee, Leymah Roberta

(Encyclopedia) Gbowee, Leymah RobertaGbowee, Leymah Robertalāˈmä, bōwēˈ [key], 1972–, Liberian peace activist. A social worker and trauma counselor, she worked with ex-child soldiers from Charles…