Deck 17: Foreign Policy: Protecting the American Way

Question 1

There are roughly ________ countries in the world.

A)50
B)100
C)200
D)300
E)500

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The basis for containment policy was the assumption that

A)the Soviet Union could be stopped from achieving its global ambitions only by the forceful use of American power.
B)the spread of nuclear weapons is a danger to the world and must be prevented.
C)economic trade should be tailored to benefit the fully industrialized nations through the formation of economic communities.
D)an arms race between the Soviet Union and the U.S.would inevitably escalate and therefore must be prevented through negotiations at an early stage.
E)terrorism can be identified and isolated in specific countries.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Regarding Soviet foreign policy,President Harry Truman believed that the Soviet Union was

A)an implacable foe that required direct opposition.
B)a regional threat.
C)not a threat to its neighbors,Europe,or the United States.
D)likely to evolve into a true democracy within a decade.
E)an economic threat,but not a military threat.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The U.S.lesson learned from the Vietnam War was that

A)public opinion could be ignored by leaders during wartime.
B)nuclear weapons had utility in a war of insurgency.
C)there were limits on America's ability to get its own way in the world.
D)the national interest of the United States required a total disengagement from Asian affairs.
E)constant bombing will force the enemy to concede defeat.

Question 5

Which agency has the primary responsibility for diplomacy?

A)Department of Defense
B)National Security Council
C)Department of Commerce
D)Department of State
E)Central Intelligence Agency

Question 6

________ described the Soviet Union as the "evil empire."

A)Richard Nixon
B)Ronald Reagan
C)Bill Clinton
D)Jimmy Carter
E)Gerald Ford

Question 7

Why was the 2014 G7 summit held in Brussels?

A)The major European powers wanted a more convenient location for the meeting.
B)The participants wanted to emphasize their displeasure at Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
C)The choice of Brussels emphasized that the summit was about western European issues,not global issues.
D)Brussels is the headquarters of the European Union.
E)The participants wanted to highlight that Belgium is an important economic power.

Question 8

Which president called for a "new world order"?

A)Bill Clinton
B)Ronald Reagan
C)George H.W.Bush
D)Dwight Eisenhower
E)George W.Bush

Question 9

The communists took over China in ________.

A)1917
B)1929
C)1935
D)1949
E)1962

Question 10

Which of the following events in American foreign policy occurred first?

A)Korean War
B)war in Kosovo
C)Vietnam War
D)fall of the Soviet Union
E)Persian Gulf War

Question 11

The SALT treaty

A)brought a settlement to the Korean War.
B)ended the Vietnam War.
C)reduced the nuclear weapons arsenals of the U.S.and Soviet Union.
D)established zones of control in postwar Germany between the U.S.and Soviet Union.
E)limited the amount of standing forces that the Soviet Union could keep in Western Europe.

Question 12

Which of the following is a true statement regarding the cold war?

A)It never became an actual shooting war between the United States and the Soviet Union.
B)The U.S.pursued a policy of containment.
C)It included U.S.support for governments being threatened by communism.
D)The global power structure was bipolar.
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 13

________ took a historic journey to the People's Republic of China in 1972.

A)Lyndon Johnson
B)Hubert Humphrey
C)George McGovern
D)Richard Nixon
E)Cyrus Vance

Question 14

The foundation of U.S.policy toward the Soviet Union after World War II was

A)détente.
B)unilateralism.
C)containment.
D)internationalism.
E)isolationism.

Question 15

Which of the following is true about the Vietnam War?

A)U.S.combat forces left Vietnam in 1973.
B)North Vietnamese forces took over the country in 1975.
C)It was the most painful and costly application of the containment doctrine.
D)U.S.forces were technically superior in combat to the communist fighters,although the war had no front lines and few set battles.
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 16

The phrase that BEST describes the shift in America's world position from the pre- to the post-World War II eras is

A)internationalism to isolationism.
B)isolationism to internationalism.
C)containment to isolationism.
D)interventionism to isolationism.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 17

Roughly how many American soldiers lost their lives in the Vietnam War?

A)35,000
B)58,000
C)123,000
D)427,000
E)650,000

Question 18

One reason the Soviet Union eventually collapsed was

A)its heavy defense expenditures.
B)its isolation from Western technology and markets.
C)its inefficient centralized command economy.
D)all of these: heavy defense expenditures; isolation from Western technology and markets; and its inefficient centralized command economy.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 19

Roughly how many American soldiers lost their lives in the Korean War?

A)1,000
B)5,000
C)35,000
D)155,000
E)500,000

Question 20

Which of the following countries is NOT a member of the G7?

A)Germany
B)France
C)Italy
D)Great Britain
E)Spain

Question 21

The primary ethnic factional groups in Iraq are

A)Sunnis,Saudis,and Kurds.
B)Sunnis,Shiites,and Kurds.
C)Kurds,al Qaeda,and Saudis.
D)Arabs,Shiites,and Sunnis.
E)Kurds,Shiites,and Saudis.

Question 22

In late 2014,President Obama ordered bombing raids against a radical Sunni group that had seized large parts of territory in

A)Syria and Iraq.
B)Egypt and Libya.
C)Turkey and Armenia.
D)Afghanistan and Iran.
E)Morocco and Algeria.

Question 23

When was the last time the United States fought an all-out conventional war that required a military draft and the full mobilization of the country's industrial capacity?

A)Iraq War
B)Vietnam War
C)Korean War
D)World War II
E)World War I

Question 24

The Dayton Accords

A)brought the deployment of peacekeeping troops to Bosnia.
B)ended the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
C)ended the placement of Soviet missiles on Cuban soil.
D)established the coalition that attacked Iraq in the Persian Gulf War in 1990.
E)brought a peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Question 25

Upon assuming the presidency in 2001,George W.Bush

A)declared that he would reduce America's military presence abroad.
B)embraced his father's multilateral approach to world affairs.
C)declared the United States would participate in the International Criminal Court.
D)declared the United States would participate in the Kyoto Protocol.
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 26

The annual defense budget in the United States is about

A)$120 billion.
B)$210 billion.
C)$290 billion.
D)$360 billion.
E)$500 billion.

Question 27

The policy of deterrence is based on the idea that

A)when threatened,a nation should strike first so that its enemy is deprived of the option of a surprise attack.
B)economic links with another country will deter it from aggression.
C)modern warfare requires a flexible response policy.
D)a nation is deterred from launching a full-scale nuclear attack by the knowledge that it too would be obliterated.
E)preemptive strikes are preferable to passive behavior.

Question 28

The longest war in American history has been

A)the Vietnam War.
B)World War II.
C)World War I.
D)the Iraq war.
E)the Afghanistan war.

Question 29

Which country possesses the most powerful military?

A)Great Britain
B)Russia
C)China
D)United States
E)France

Question 30

________,the former president of Yugoslavia,was tried for war crimes.

A)Slobodan Milosevic
B)Mikhail Gorbachev
C)Saddam Hussein
D)Lech Walesa
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 31

Defense spending is highest in

A)Japan.
B)the United States.
C)France.
D)Great Britain.
E)Germany.

Question 32

The first U.S.military action after the September 11,2001 attacks was an invasion of

A)Afghanistan.
B)Kosovo.
C)Iraq.
D)Somalia.
E)Panama.

Question 33

All of the following EXCEPT ________ refused to participate in America's war in Iraq in 2003.

A)Great Britain
B)Germany
C)France
D)Belgium
E)Russia

Question 34

The idea that major nations should act together in response to problems and crises is called

A)the one-world concept.
B)détente.
C)multilateralism.
D)internationalism.
E)containment.

Question 35

The nuclear triad consists of

A)land-based missiles,bombers,and tactical nuclear weapons.
B)bombers,jet fighters,and submarine-based missiles.
C)land-based missiles,submarine-based missiles,and bombers.
D)bombers,land-based missiles,and cruise missiles.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 36

In 2002,President George W.Bush labeled ________ "the axis of evil."

A)Cuba,China,and Vietnam
B)Ethiopia,Somalia,and Libya
C)Russia,China,and North Korea
D)Saudi Arabia,Syria,and Jordan
E)Iraq,Iran,and North Korea

Question 37

Defense spending is second-highest in

A)Russia.
B)the United States.
C)China.
D)Great Britain.
E)Germany.

Question 38

Since the cold war ended,U.S.policy makers' chief concern with nuclear weaponry has been

A)the possibility of a computer error in the U.S.or former Soviet weapons systems that could mistakenly launch a nuclear missile.
B)the spread of nuclear technology to rogue nations or terrorist groups.
C)the use of a tactical nuclear weapon in ethnic conflicts in Eastern Europe.
D)the possibility that,in the process of dismantling the U.S.and former Soviet arsenals,a nuclear warhead could be accidentally detonated.
E)the spread of nuclear technology to NATO forces.

Question 39

Which of the following is a true statement about the 1990-1991 Gulf War?

A)It was a successful military operation.
B)It resolved the regional conflicts that prompted the original aggression by Iraq.
C)It was waged entirely by U.S.military forces.
D)It created a fiscal crisis because of the financial burden it placed on the United States.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 40

The ________ was created to coordinate domestic efforts to protect the United States against terrorist attacks and threats.

A)Department of Homeland Security
B)CIA
C)FBI
D)National Security Council
E)State Department

Question 41

Which of the following makes America's war on terrorism a "new kind of war"?

A)Law enforcement plays a key role.
B)"Soft" targets such as airports and major events must be protected.
C)The terrorists are not seeking to take over specific regions or countries.
D)The focus of the war is on groups rather than nations.
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 42

Placing more emphasis on diplomacy,economic sanctions,and foreign aid as the means of protecting U.S.interests,rather than emphasizing the threat or use of military force,is known as what type of power?

A)hard power
B)soft power
C)modern power
D)economic power
E)true power

Question 43

The term "asymmetric war" BEST applies to

A)regional wars.
B)transnational terrorism.
C)conventional wars.
D)nuclear war.
E)wars between neighboring countries with different population sizes.

Question 44

Regarding the position of the United States in world trade,it can be said that

A)the United States has never had a trade surplus.
B)in recent years,the United States has had trade surpluses more than deficits.
C)the United States has the most favorable balance of trade in the world.
D)the United States is a larger market than the European Union and the Pacific Rim combined.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 45

What characteristic of states like Montana and Wyoming contributes to the comparatively high military recruitment from those areas?

A)a high number of military installations
B)rural,with few well-paying jobs available to young adults
C)a strong military tradition
D)state mandates for public service
E)enlistment bonuses offered to recruits from certain states

Question 46

Which of the following terms MOST accurately describes the international economy today?

A)unilateralism
B)isolationism
C)interdependence
D)protectionism
E)insurgency

Question 47

Which country holds the LARGEST dollar amount of U.S.treasury bonds?

A)Germany
B)France
C)Great Britain
D)Japan
E)China

Question 48

Which of the following is the measure of success in an unconventional war?

A)winning the support of the people
B)territory gained
C)enemy soldiers killed
D)combat units destroyed
E)enemy soldiers wounded

Question 49

The European Recovery Plan is better known as the

A)Truman Doctrine.
B)Marshall Plan.
C)Carter Doctrine.
D)Clinton Manifesto.
E)Reagan Decree.

Question 50

The European Union produces about ________ of the world's goods and services.

A)ten percent
B)a fifth
C)one quarter
D)half
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 51

Which of the following is true about the trade imbalance in the United States?

A)The United States has not had a trade surplus since 1975.
B)Over the past decade,the U.S.trade deficit has exceeded $300 billion every year.
C)The United States has the largest trade deficit of the top three economic centers.
D)All of these are true: The United States has not had a trade surplus since 1975; over the past decade,the U.S.trade deficit has exceeded $300 billion every year; and the United States has the largest trade deficit of the top three economic centers.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 52

Which of the following is NOT an economic element of the United States in relation to its position in the world economy?

A)Although it has a trade deficit with most competitors,it exports more goods than it imports.
B)It has a wide base of natural resources.
C)It has the most diversified economy among its major competitors.
D)It is the most economically competitive of its major competitors.
E)All of these answers are correct.

Question 53

America's trade deficit with China surpasses more than ________ annually.

A)$250 billion
B)$2 billion
C)$22 billion
D)$48 billion
E)$712 billion

Question 54

America's war on terrorism is aimed PRIMARILY at

A)individuals.
B)groups.
C)regions.
D)nations.
E)nongovernmental organizations.

Question 55

Which country was the only one to side with Russia in a UN Security Council vote censuring Russia for its annexation of the Crimea?

A)France
B)Poland
C)China
D)Algeria
E)Nigeria

Question 56

The United States

A)spends the most on foreign aid in dollar terms,but several countries spend more on a per capita basis.
B)spends the most on a per capita basis,but several countries spend more in dollar terms.
C)spends the most on foreign aid both in dollar terms and on a per capita basis.
D)spends less on foreign aid both in dollar terms and on a per capita basis than several other countries.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 57

The three major economic centers of the world are the

A)United States,Canada,and Mexico.
B)Pacific Rim,China,and the United States.
C)United States,the Pacific Rim,and the European Union.
D)United States,Russia,and Brazil.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 58

The United States pursues its economic policy goals through which of the following international organizations?

A)World Bank
B)World Trade Organization (WTO)
C)International Monetary Fund (IMF)
D)all of these: the World Bank,the World Trade Organization (WTO),and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 59

The two main sources of imported oil for the United States are

A)Saudi Arabia and North Africa.
B)Iraq and the Persian Gulf.
C)Canada and Russia.
D)Venezuela and the Middle East.
E)Canada and Latin America.

Question 60

The United States produces about ________ percent of the world's goods and services.

A)5
B)20
C)50
D)66
E)75

Question 61

How does public opinion exhibit varying levels of importance in defense policy?

Question 62

Define the term containment policy.What was the basis for this policy?

Question 63

Discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of the U.S.economy relative to those of leading competitor nations.

Question 64

Identify three broad goals of the United States in the global economy.

Question 65

Describe the military-industrial complex and discuss its influence on defense spending.