Concept

al-Qaeda

a militant Islamist group originally founded by Osama bin Ladenboomerang generationyoung people who must return to their parents’ home in order to make ends meetBush Doctrinethe belief that the United States has the right to protect itself from terrorist acts by engaging in pre-emptive wars or ousting hostile governments in favor of friendly, preferably democratic, regimescharter schoolselementary and secondary schools that, although funded by taxpayer money, are allowed to operate independently from some rules and regulations governing public schoolscivil unionsa civil status offered to gay and lesbian couples with the goal of securing the main privileges of marriage without granting them equal status in marriagecredit default swapsfinancial instruments that pay buyers even if a purchased loan defaults; a form of insurance for risky loansGreat Recessionthe economic recession that began in 2008, following the collapse of the housing boom, and was driven by risky and misleading subprime mortgages and a deregulated bond marketgreenhouse gasesgases in the earth’s atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, that trap heat and prevent it from radiating into spaceKyoto Protocolan international agreement establishing regulations designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the world’s industrialized nationsObamacarethe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Actsubprime mortgagea type of mortgage offered to borrowers with lower credit ratings; subprime loans feature interest rates that are higher (often adjustable) than conventional mortgages to compensate the bank for the increased risk of defaultTalibana fundamentalist Muslim group that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001Tea Partya conservative movement focused primarily on limiting government spending and the size of the federal governmentWMDsweapons of mass destruction; a class of weapons capable of inflicting massive causalities and physical destruction, such as nuclear bombs or biological and chemical weapons

Appears in

32. The Challenges of the Twenty-First Century