Glossary

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Falklands War -  The 1982 war between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the disputed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, also known as the Malvinas, situated in the South Atlantic.
Farooq Leghari -  Farooq Leghari (1940-2010) Pakistani politician and President (1993-1997).
Farooq Sobhan -  Farooq Sobhan (b.1940) is a Bangladeshi diplomat who served as Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh from 1995 to 1997. He was previously Ambassador to China (1987-90), and High Commissioner to Malaysia (1984-87) and India (1992-95). Sobhan was candidate for the position of Commonwealth Secretary General in 1999.
FBIS -  Foreign Broadcast Information Service. The branch of the CIA that monitored foreign broadcasts. Originally founded in 1941, the Foreign Broadvast Information Service came under the purview of the CIA in 1947, and in 2005 it was incorporated into the Open Source Center.
FCO -  Foreign and Commonwealth Office. British government department with responsibility for relations with other countries. Created in 1968 from the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office. Often called 'the Foreign Office'.
Fearless and Tiger Talks -  Talks between UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Prime Minister of Rhodesia Ian Smith in December 1966 and October 1968. They are named after the two Royal Navy ships that hosted the talks.
Federation of Malaysia and Singapore -  A federal state that briefly united Malaysia and Singapore form 1963 to 1965.
Fenech Adami -  Edward Fenech Adami (b.1934) is a Maltese politician who served as Prime Minister of Malta from 1987 to 1996, and again from 1998 to 2004. He subsequently served as President of Malta from 2004 to 2009. Adami is associated with the Maltese Nationalist Party.
Fernand Braudel -  Fernand Braudel (1902-1985) was a French historian famous for his association with the Annales School, a group of historians emphasising the role of large-scale socioeconomic factors in their analysis of history. His most influential book was La Méditerranée et le Monde Méditerranéen à l’Epoque de Philippe II (1949).
Fidel Castro -  Fidel Castro (b. 1926). Cuban revolutionary leader and politician, leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008.
Field Marshall Smuts -  Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870-1950). South African statesman and military leader. He was Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, 1919-24 and 1939-48.
Fifth Brigade -  Unit of the Zimbabwean army formed in 1981 and trained by North Korean soldiers. It became notorious for atrocities committed in Matabeleland, and was abolished in 1988.
Fiji double coup -  The Fiji Coups of 1987 saw, first, in May, the overthrow of the elected government, and second, in September, the end of the Fijian monarchy, and the proclamation of Fiji as a republic. Both coups were led by the military.
Financial Action Task Force -  An inter-governmental body set-up in 1989 by a G-7 summit held in Paris in 1989. The aim was to establish standards of legal, regulatory and operational measures for battling money laundering and terrorist financing.
First Gulf War -  The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, and its subsequent ejection by a United States-led coalition (1990-1991).
Five Eyes alliance -  The ‘Five Eyes’ alliance refers to an intelligence grouping established in 1941 by the multilateral UKUSA Agreement on cooperation in signals intelligence. It includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
FLNKS -  The Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS), also known as the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, is an alliance of political parties in New Caledonia founded in 1984 and working for the independence of the country from France.
Flora MacDonald -  Flora MacDonald (b. 1926). Canadian politician and member of the Progressive Conservative party. She was Secretary of State for External Affairs (1979-80) and has worked with the Commonwealth of Learning and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
FO -  Foreign Office. The department of the British government with responsibility for relations with foreign countries, formed in 1782. Since 1968, it has been formally known as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, although it is still often informally referred to as the Foreign Office.
Foday Sankoh -  Foday Saybana Sankoh (1937-2003) was leader of the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone from 1991-2000, coordinating armed rebellion against the Joseph Momoh-led All People’s Congress Government and a major protagonist in the decade-long Sierra Leonean Civil War. Sankoh died in 2013 awaiting trial for crimes against humanity in a UN-backed court.
Food and Agricultural Organisation -  The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that focuses its work on eliminating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in both the developed and developing world. Established in Quebec City, Canada in 1945, it is now based in Rome, Italy and brings together 194 member states to share knowledge and debate policy.
- Synonyms: FAO
Forbes Burnham -  Linden Forbes Burnham (1923-1985) was a Guyanese politician who served as leader of Guyana from 1964 until his death, holding the titles of Premier (1964-66), Prime Minister (1966-80) and President (1980-85) over his long career. Burnham was founder and leader of the People’s National Congress.
Fourth Committee -  The United Nations Fourth Committee or Special Political and Decolonization Committee is a group within the UN General Assembly originally established to oversee the granting of independence to formerly colonial territories. The committee now deals with questions of Palestinian refugees, human rights, peacekeeping, mine action and public information, among other matters.
France-Albert Rene -  France-Albert Rene (b.1935). President of Seychelles (1977-2004).
Francis Nwokedi -  Francis Nwokedi was a Nigerian diplomat who served as Permanent Secretary to his country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was later Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General on the Congo.
Francis Pym -  Francis Pym, Baron Pym, (1922-2008) was a British political figure who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1982-83) in the government of Margaret Thatcher­. A member of the Conservative Party, Pym acted in other Cabinet posts including Defence Secretary (1979-81), Northern Ireland Secretary (1974) and Leader of the House of Commons (1981-82).
Francis Vallat -  Professor Sir Francis Vallat (1912-2008) was a French-born British lawyer who served as Legal Adviser for the UK Foreign Office from 1945 to 1968. During this time he also served as Legal Adviser to the UK’s Permanent Delegation to the UN (1950-53) and was later Director of International Law Studies at King’s College London (1968-1976).
Francistown -  City in eastern Botswana.
Francois Mitterand -  Francois Mitterand (1915-1996) was a French political figure who served as his country’s President from 1981 to 1995. He was previously First Secretary of the Socialist Party (1971-81) and held a variety of ministerial roles, including Minister of Justice (1956-57).
Francois Pienaar -  Jacobus Francois Pienaar (b.1967) is a South African rugby player, best known for his role as Captain of the World Cup-winning South African rugby team in 1995.
Frank Corner -  Frank Henry Corner (1920-2014) was a New Zealand diplomat who served his country as Ambassador to the United Nations (1961-67) and the United States (1967-72). He was later New Zealand’s Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1972 to 1980.
Frank Walcott -  Frank Walcott (1916-1999). Barbadian trade unionist, diplomat and politician.
Franz Joseph Strauss -  Franz Joseph Strauss (1915-1988). German politician, head of the Christian Social Union (CSU). He served in the federal government as a minister from 1953 to 1969 and then as Minister-President of Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany, from 1978-1988.
Fred Phillips -  Sir Frederick Albert Phillips (1918-2011) was a politician and jurist from Saint Kitts and Nevis who served as Governor of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla from 1967 to 1969.
Frederick Chiluba -  Frederick Chiluba (1943-2011). Zambian politician and President (1991-2002).
Frederick Wills -  Frederick Wills (d.1992) was a Guyanese lawyer and diplomat who served as his country’s Foreign Minister from 1975 to 1978. Wills has previously acted as Guyana’s Justice Minister under President Forbes Burnham.
Freedom Front -  A South African political party founded in 1994, which seeks self-determination for Afrikaners.
Freedom of Information Act -  A British law, passed in 2000, that established the right of public access to information held by the state, but also established a number of exemptions.
FRELIMO -  FRELIMO (Mozambique Liberation Front) was formed in 1962 as a Mozambican liberation movement. Since independence in 1975 it has been the ruling political party in Mozambique.
French nuclear testing at Mururoa -  French testing of nuclear weapons at Mururoa atoll in the southern Pacific between 1966 and 1996 sparked international protest.
French Revolution -  A 1789 uprising that saw the overthrow of the French monarchy and ultimately the execution of the king.
Frene Ginwala -  Frene Ginwala (b.1932). South African politician, Speaker of the National Assembly (1994-2004).
FRG -  The Federal Republic of Germany (1949-1990) was the name for the NATO-aligned West Germany during the period of the Cold War. The Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany was known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Front de Libération Nationale -  The Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) is a socialist political party in Algeria which acted as the main revolutionary body in the war for Algeria’s independence from France. The FLN was founded in 1954 by Ahmed Ben Bella, who became a principal protagonist in post-independence struggles for power along with Houari Boumédiène.
- Synonyms: FLN
Front Line States -  A group of southern African states formed in 1970, which campaigned for democratic majority rule in South Africa.
Fuwad Thowfeek -  Fuwad Thowfeek served as Elections Commissioner in the Republic of Maldives before being dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2014 on charges of contempt of court. Thowfeek had disbanded eight political parties with less than 3000 members despite the Supreme Court asking him not to go ahead with the move.
FW de Klerk -  FW de Klerk (b. 1936). South African politician and State President (1989-1994).