Office of the Historian

Abbreviations and Terms

    • ABM, anti-ballistic missle
    • ADB, Asian Development Bank
    • AEC, Atomic Energy Commission
    • AID, Agency for International Development
    • AP, Associated Press
    • AR, Albanian Resolution (UN)
    • ARVN, Army Republic of Vietnam
    • ASP, American selling price
    • ASPAC, Asia-Pacific region
    • ASW, anti-submarine warfare
    • Backchannel, a method of communication outside normal bureaucratic procedure; the White House, for instance, used “backchannel” messages to bypass the Department of State
    • CB, chemical and biological
    • CEA, Council of Economic Advisers
    • CIA, Central Intelligence Agency
    • CIEP, Council on International Economic Policy
    • CINCPAC, Commander in Chief, Pacific
    • CHICOM, Chinese Communist
    • COMSEVENTHFLT, Commander, U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet
    • COMUSJ, Commander, U.S. Forces, Japan
    • CSCE, Community for Security and Cooperation in Europe
    • DIS or DISS, dissemination
    • DOD, Department of Defense
    • DOD/ISA, Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
    • DOS, Department of State
    • DR, Dual Representation (UN)
    • DSP, Democratic Socialist Party, Government of Japan
    • E, Bureau of Economic Affairs, Department of State
    • EA or EAP, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
    • EA/IG, East Asia Interdepartmental Group
    • EA/J, Officer in Charge of Japanese Affairs, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State
    • EC, European Community
    • ECONCOM, Joint U.S.-Japan Economic Committee Meeting at the Cabinet level
    • EEC, European Economic Community
    • Embtel, embassy telegram
    • Exdis, exclusive distribution (indicates extremely limited dissemination)
    • FAC, Foreign Assets Control
    • FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • FCN, Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation (Treaty)
    • FonMin, foreign minister
    • FRC, Federal Records Center
    • FT, foreign trade
    • FY, fiscal year
    • FYI, for your information
    • GA, General Assembly (UN)
    • GATT, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
    • GIMO, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi)
    • GNP, gross national product
    • GOJ, Government of Japan
    • GRC, Government of the Republic of China.
    • GVN, Government of Vietnam (South)
    • HAK, Henry A. Kissinger
    • HIM, His Imperial Majesty
    • HK, Hong Kong; Henry Kissinger
    • IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency
    • IG, Interdepartmental Group
    • IMF, International Monetary Fund
    • info, information
    • INR, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
    • INR/EAP, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, East Asia and the Pacific, Department of State
    • intel, intelligence
    • IO, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State
    • IQ, important question (UN)
    • ISA, Bureau of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense
    • J, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Department of State
    • JCP, Communist Party (Japan)
    • JCS, Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • JCSM, Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum
    • JDA, Japanese Defense Agency
    • JSP, Socialist Party (Japan)
    • K, Kissinger
    • L, Office of the Legal Adviser, Department of State
    • LDC, less developed countries
    • LDP, Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
    • Limdis, limited distribution (see also EXDIS)
    • MBFR, Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
    • MCAS, Marine Corps Air Station
    • MIRV, muliple independently targeted reentry vehicle missiles
    • MITI, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Japan)
    • MOFA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    • MST, Mutual Security Treaty (United States-Japan)
    • NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    • NEP, new economic policy
    • NIE, National Intelligence Estimate
    • Nodis, no distribution
    • Noforn, no foreign dissemination
    • Notal, not all (telegram A, referenced in telegram B, was not sent to all the recipients of telegram B)
    • NPT, Nonproliferation Treaty
    • NSA, National Security Agency
    • NSC, National Security Council
    • NSDM, National Security Decision Memorandum
    • NSSM, National Security Study Memorandum
    • OASD/ISA, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
    • OBE, overtaken by events
    • OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
    • OMB, Office of Management and Budget, White House
    • OPIC, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
    • OSD, Office of the Secretary of Defense
    • OSD/ISA, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Bureau of International Security Affairs
    • PDT, Pacific Daylight Time
    • PM, Prime Minister
    • pol, political
    • PRC, People’s Republic of China
    • Pres, the President
    • PriMin, Prime Minister
    • QR, Quota Restriction
    • reftel, reference telegram
    • rep, representative
    • res, resolution (UN)
    • RG, Record Group (National Archives and Records Administration)
    • RN, Richard Nixon
    • RNC, Republican National Committee
    • ROC, Republic of China (see also GRC)
    • ROK, Republic of Korea (South Korea)
    • RVN, Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
    • S, Office of the Secretary of State
    • SALT, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
    • SC, Security Council, United Nations
    • SCA, Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, Department of State
    • SCC, U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee
    • SCI, Bureau of International Scientific and Technological Affairs, Department of State; also sensitive compartmentalized information
    • SEA, Southeast Asia
    • SEATO, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
    • SECTO, from the Secretary of State (used for telegrams from the Secretary or his party while he is on travel)
    • Secy, Secretary of State
    • Secy Gen, Secretary General (UN)
    • septel, separate telegram
    • SIG, Senior Interdepartmental Group (NSC)
    • SNIE, Special National Intelligence Estimate
    • SOF(A), Status of Forces (Agreement)
    • S/P, Policy Planning Council, Department of State
    • SRG, Senior Review Group (NSC)
    • S/S, Executive Secretariat, Department of State
    • SVN, South Vietnam
    • TOSEC, to the Secretary of State (used for telegrams to the Secretary while he is on travel)
    • TS, top secret
    • U, Office of the Under Secretary of State
    • UK, United Kingdom
    • UN, United Nations
    • UNCTAD, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
    • UNGA, United Nations General Assembly
    • USA, United States Army
    • USAF, United States Air Force
    • USG, United States Government
    • USIB, United States Intelligence Board
    • U–S/M, Under Secretaries’ memorandum
    • USN, United States Navy
    • USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
    • USUN, United States Mission to the United Nations
    • VN, Vietnam
    • VOA, Voice of America
    • WESTPAC, Western Pacific
    • WH, White House
    • Y, Yoshida
    • Z, Zulu time (Greenwich mean time)