Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Palestine Liberation Organization

(Encyclopedia)Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), coordinating council for Palestinian organizations, founded (1964) by Egypt and the Arab League and initially controlled by Egypt. Composed of various guerrill...

Warsaw Treaty Organization

(Encyclopedia)Warsaw Treaty Organization or Warsaw Pact, alliance set up under a mutual defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, in 1955 by Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania,...

World Health Organization

(Encyclopedia)World Health Organization (WHO), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1948, with its headquarters at Geneva. WHO admits all sovereign states (including those not belonging to the U...

World Meteorological Organization

(Encyclopedia)World Meteorological Organization (WMO), specialized agency of the United Nations; established in 1950 with headquarters at Geneva, it became affiliated with the United Nations a year later. It replac...

World Trade Organization

(Encyclopedia)World Trade Organization (WTO), international organization established in 1995 as a result of the final round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations, called the Uruguay Roun...

Shanghai Cooperation Organization

(Encyclopedia)Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), association of Eurasian nations founded 2001 in Shanghai by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Under the charter signed in 2002...

Haile Selassie

(Encyclopedia)Haile Selassie hīˈlē səlăsˈē, –läˈsē [key], [Amharic,=power of the Trinity], 1892–1975, emperor of Ethiopia (1930–74). He was born Tafari Makonnen, the son of a noted general and the g...

Qaddafi, Muammar al-

(Encyclopedia)Qaddafi, Muammar al- mo͞oäm-märˈ äl-käd-däˈfē [key], 1942–2011, Libyan army officer and dictator. He graduated from the Univ. of Libya in 1963 and became an army officer in 1965. In 1969 he...

Keita, Modibo

(Encyclopedia)Keita, Modibo mōdēˈbō kāˈtä [key], 1915–77, African political leader in the Republic of Mali. He studied in France and taught in the French Sudan (later the Republic of Mali) before becoming ...

Congressional Black Caucus

(Encyclopedia)Congressional Black Caucus, organization of African-American members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Founded in 1970, it addresses legislative concerns of African Americans and other minority ci...