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North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(Encyclopedia)North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), established under the North Atlantic Treaty (Apr. 4, 1949) by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, N...

Mazar-i-Sharif

(Encyclopedia)Mazar-i-Sharif mäzärˈ-ē-shärēfˈ [key], city (1988 est. pop. 131,000), capital of Balkh prov., N Afghanistan, near the Uzbekistan border. It is held sacred as the alleged burial place of Ali, so...

McCarthy, Gina

(Encyclopedia) McCarthy, Gina (Regina McCarthy), 1954- , American environmentalist and government official, Brighton, Ma., Univ. of Ma., Boston (B.A., 1976), Tufts U...

Namur, city, Belgium

(Encyclopedia)Namur, Du. Namen, commune (1991 pop. 103,443), capital of Namur prov., S central Belgium, at the confluence of the Meuse and Sambre rivers. It is a commercial and industrial center as well as a rail j...

Mitchell, William

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, William (Billy Mitchell), 1879–1936, American army officer and pilot, b. Nice, France. He enlisted (1898) in the U.S. army in the Spanish-American War and received a commission in the regu...

French Community

(Encyclopedia)French Community, established in 1958 by the constitution of the Fifth French Republic to replace the French Union. Its members consisted of the French Republic, which included metropolitan France (co...

referendum

(Encyclopedia)referendum, referral of proposed laws or constitutional amendments to the electorate for final approval. This direct form of legislation, along with the initiative, was known in Greece and other early...

Bachelet, Michele

(Encyclopedia)Bachelet, Michele (Verónica Michele Bachelet Jeria) bĕōnˈēka mēchĕlˈ bächĕlĕtˈ herˈēä [key], 1951–, Chilean political leader and government official, president of Chile (2006–10, 20...

National Dialogue Quartet

(Encyclopedia)National Dialogue Quartet, informal grouping of four Tunisian civil society organizations formed in mid-2013 to facilitate political dialogue in Tunisia that would lead to consensus on the adoption of...

Reagan, Ronald Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Reagan, Ronald Wilson rāˈgən [key], 1911–2004, 40th president of the United States (1981–89), b. Tampico, Ill. In 1932, after graduation from Eureka College, he became a radio announcer and spo...