Deck 8: Transition Systems: Yesterday and Today

Question 1

What was a major consequence of invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine for Russia in 2014?

A)Increased Russian military spending undermined production for the consumer sector.
B)A surge in nationalism in Russia caused industrial production to rise.
C)Western sanctions and falling oil prices sent the economy into recession.
D)Raw materials from the occupied areas fueled a resurgence of Russian manufacturing.
E)Prices fell as the ruble gained value.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What is the last truly Stalinist regime left in the world?

A)Poland
B)Albania
C)Russia
D)North Korea
E)Venezuela

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Of the following, which undermined privatization in Russia immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union?

A)Nostalgia for communism
B)Official inexperience with private business
C)Organized crime and corruption
D)Western subversion
E)Ethnic strife

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What did Donald Trump say he wanted when it came to relations with Russia?

A)Great relations
B)Confrontation
C)Cautious engagement
D)A return to the Cold War
E)Conflict over Ukraine

Question 5

Of the following, which best describes how Vladimir Putin fits into Russian political traditions and culture?

A)He is a ruthless, strong leader.
B)His personal history is rooted in the Russian Orthodox faith.
C)He combines ruthlessness with an earthy sense of humor.
D)He is charismatic and imaginative.
E)He is a champion for human rights and the dignity of the individual.

Question 6

Just prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union, approximately what proportion of the population were ethnic Russians?

A)Less than one-fourth
B)About one-fourth
C)About one-third
D)A little more than half
E)About three-fourths

Question 7

Whom of the following is considered a political lackey of Vladimir Putin?

A)Mikhail Khodorkovsky
B)Boris Yeltsin
C)Dmitry Medvedev
D)Garry Kasparov
E)Mikhail Gorbachev

Question 8

What was one of the chief consequences of the Soviet command economy?

A)Outstanding research and development
B)Inadequate military power
C)Austere lives for most citizens
D)Prosperity for most people of every class
E)Lower standards of living for elites

Question 9

Of the following, which was the greatest factor in the final decline and fall of the USSR?

A)The "Nationality Question"
B)Political corruption
C)Inflation
D)Religious resurgence
E)Unemployment

Question 10

Which of the following was the president of Russia who stood up to the August 1991 hard-line coup attempt?

A)Boris Yeltsin
B)Mikhail Gorbachev
C)Heydar Aliyev
D)Vladimir Putin
E)Yuri Andropov

Question 11

What rebellious Russian republic did Boris Yeltsin order to be attacked in December 1994?

A)Azerbaijan
B)Armenia
C)Georgia
D)Ukraine
E)Chechnya

Question 12

What class of officials ran the Soviet Union?

A)Bourgeoisie
B)Proletariat
C)Perestroika
D)Glasnost
E)Nomenklatura

Question 13

Which former communist state privatized at a slower rate than others in eastern Europe?

A)Romania
B)Poland
C)Czechoslovakia
D)Hungary
E)East Germany

Question 14

What was the region of Ukraine that Vladimir Putin ordered invaded by Russia in 2014?

A)Kuban
B)Pripyat
C)Ruthenia
D)Crimea
E)Karelia

Question 15

What did the Soviet command economy attempt to prohibit?

A)Competition, corruption, and some private ownership
B)Competition, the pursuit of profit, and abuse of the environment
C)Disorder, corruption, and government interference in business
D)Competition, the pursuit of profit, and most private ownership
E)Business collusion, the pursuit of profit, and all private ownership

Question 16

Of the following, which is most clearly a feature of a totalitarian state?

A)Preferential treatment for the wealthy and well born
B)State-sponsored terrorism against foreign countries
C)Central control of the media and the economy
D)Decentralized authority within major industries
E)Multiple political parties

Question 17

Who was the last leader of the Soviet Union?

A)Josef Stalin
B)Mikhail Gorbachev
C)Konstantin Chernenko
D)Yuri Andropov
E)Leonid Brezhnev

Question 18

Which term best describes the Soviet economy?

A)Efficient
B)Inefficient
C)Fair
D)Prosperous
E)Competitive

Question 19

Of the following, which best describes Russia's traditions and political culture regarding individual rights?

A)A strong commitment to individual rights has long been a major component of Russian culture.
B)Communist dictatorship was utterly incompatible with Russian democracy and rights.
C)The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 overturned democracy and rights, flourishing under the czars.
D)Russia's long interaction with western Europe meant that concepts of freedom and rights became rooted in Russian culture.
E)There is little or no traditional support for individual rights.

Question 20

What were two methods used by the Soviet Union to suppress nationalism among minority nationalities?

A)Accommodation and appeals to class solidarity
B)Brute force and education in the Russian language
C)Violence as a last resort and local-language education
D)Economic privilege and Marxist rhetoric
E)Political empowerment and absorption into Russian culture

Question 21

Who was the first president of the Czech Republic after the breakup of Czechoslovakia?

A)Václav Havel
B)Miloš Zeman
C)Edvard Beneš
D)Klement Gottwald
E)Alexander Dubček

Question 22

What is the name of South Korea's policy of dialogue with North Korea?

A)Constructive engagement
B)Détente
C)Sunshine Policy
D)Graduated response
E)Power School

Question 23

Of the following, which best describes Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán?

A)A firm believer in the free market and individual freedom
B)A citizen-leader, brought to power reluctantly
C)Bringing back communism
D)An authoritarian demagogue
E)A statesman, committed to liberal democracy

Question 24

What are the two requirements for eastern European countries to join the European Union and NATO?

A)A strong military and a command economy
B)Public order and a mixed economy
C)Representative democracy and a capitalist economy
D)An efficient national police force and a capitalist economy
E)Trials of former communist officials and an efficient economy of any type

Question 25

Of the following, which describes South Korea's economic performance since World War II?

A)Prosperity to poverty
B)Poverty to greater poverty
C)Prosperity to collapse
D)Poverty to prosperity
E)Prosperity to greater prosperity

Question 26

Who was the leftist president elected in Brazil in 2002?

A)Dilma Rousseff
B)Fernando Henrique Cardoso
C)Michelle Bachelet
D)Luis Inácio Lula da Silva
E)Sebastián Peñera

Question 27

What was a primary reason why the United States did little to oppose the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008?

A)Relations between the United States and Georgia were extremely poor.
B)The attack on Georgia was a major surprise to the Americans.
C)President George W. Bush was determined to achieve better relations with Russia.
D)Georgia was a major power and a clear threat to Russia.
E)The United States was distracted by its own wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Question 28

In the 1990s, what was the effect of large industrial conglomerates and unregulated banks on the South Korean economy?

A)They stifled competition.
B)They encouraged competition.
C)They prevented recession.
D)They made recession more likely.
E)They opened up to competitive subversion.

Question 29

Prior to the 1990s, what was the political norm in most of Latin America?

A)Absolute monarchies
B)Constitutional monarchies
C)Authoritarian regimes, sometimes interrupted by democracy
D)A succession of military and other authoritarian regimes
E)Consistent democracy

Question 30

What was the term applied to Poland's transition from communism to a capitalist economy?

A)Flexible response
B)Slow burn
C)Shock therapy
D)Collective security
E)Natural evolution

Question 31

Of the following, which is a Latin American country in which democratic government has been long established, with authoritarian government relatively rare?

A)Brazil
B)Argentina
C)Costa Rica
D)El Salvador
E)Peru

Question 32

Who was the first president of the Republic of China in Taiwan after the end of the Chinese civil war?

A)Zhou Enlai
B)Kim Il-Sung
C)Lee Teng-hui
D)Chiang Kai-shek
E)Mao Zedong

Question 33

What was a primary reason why Russia invaded Georgia?

A)The Russian army needed combat experience.
B)Georgia wanted to join NATO.
C)Georgia launched a sneak attack on Russia.
D)Georgia was sponsoring terrorism against Russia.
E)Russia needed a distraction from its contracting economy.

Question 34

What was a key reason for Hungary's relatively smooth transition from communism to capitalism?

A)It was already a mixed economy and not a complete command economy in the Soviet model.
B)It was communist in name only and thoroughly capitalist even before the fall of the USSR.
C)The Soviets encouraged economic reform and democratic pluralism in the last years of communism.
D)Violent revolution in 1989 eradicated all hard-line communists in the country, eliminating opposition.
E)The Soviets blocked Western investment and interference in Hungary's affairs before the end of communism.

Question 35

Of the following, which best describes the seventeen-year rule of Chile by General Augusto Pinochet?

A)Political authoritarianism with growing economic freedom
B)Political authoritarianism with a command economy
C)Political democratic reform with a mixed economy
D)Political democratic reform with growing economic freedom
E)Political authoritarianism with a mixed economy

Question 36

What distinguished Czechoslovakia's imposition of communism after World War II?

A)It was through a fraudulent election overseen by former Nazis.
B)It was a direct result of Nazi occupation and then Soviet destruction of anti-communist groups.
C)It was imposed by the Soviet army and ratified by fraudulent elections.
D)It was through a violent coup following liberation by the United States.
E)It was through a free election following liberation mainly by the Soviets.

Question 37

Of the following, which best describes the economic fortunes of China and Japan in the 1990s?

A)China and Japan keeping pace with each other
B)China and Japan both rising
C)China falling, Japan rising
D)China and Japan both falling
E)China rising, Japan falling

Question 38

What economic weapon did Vladimir Putin use against Ukraine in 2004?

A)Natural gas
B)Oil
C)Coal
D)Electricity
E)Steel

Question 39

Since the end of its communist regime, how has Poland's economy performed overall?

A)With poor growth, devalued currency, high unemployment, and rampant corruption
B)With generally good growth, but with problems of inequality and unemployment
C)With steady growth and widespread opportunity and low unemployment
D)With spikes of growth and consistently high inflation
E)With periodic prosperity, but more often recession and unemployment

Question 40

Of the following, which is Chile's most glaring economic vulnerability?

A)Lack of economic freedom
B)A large divide between the rich and poor
C)An inefficient command economy
D)Lack of natural resources
E)Political instability

Question 41

Which is harder to implement in Latin America, economic reform or political reform? Use examples and point out exceptions.

Question 42

Analyze the economic performance of Taiwan. How does its reliance on exports and its unique place in international relations affect its prosperity?

Question 43

How did the Argentine economy perform under Néstor Kirchner's successor and wife, Cristina Kirchner?

A)Poorly, with high inflation and mounting debt
B)Poorly, in the midst of a new war with Britain
C)Well, with low unemployment and inflation
D)Well, due to the new president's strong management skills
E)Well, due to the new president's popularity

Question 44

Examine Mikhail Gorbachev's response to the Soviet Union's problems, especially the economy and the Nationality Question. How did his actions accelerate or delay the fall of the USSR?

Question 45

Which of the following is the Mexican political party that dominated politics from the Mexican Revolution to 2000?

A)Mexican Communist Party (PCM)
B)National Coalition Party (PCN)
C)Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)
D)National Action Party (PAN)
E)Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA)

Question 46

What economic achievement did President Néstor Kirchner of Argentina gain in 2006?

A)Argentina paid off the country's International Monetary Fund loan early.
B)Argentina emerged from a major economic recession.
C)Argentina abandoned the peso and adopted the American dollar.
D)Argentina nationalized its agricultural sector.
E)Argentina reached a trade agreement with the European Union.

Question 47

Analyze the transitions of Poland and Czechoslovakia to capitalism. Why was Poland's experience more successful than Czechoslovakia's in terms of economic goals and public support?

Question 48

Who tend to be the main victims of drug-related violence in Mexico?

A)The middle class
B)The poor
C)The rich
D)Politicians
E)Mexicans of all social classes

Question 49

Analyze whether Russia is a threat to its neighbors and the West; explain why you feel it is or is not a danger on par with its predecessor, the Soviet Union.

Question 50

Analyze the challenges of political reform in Mexico; what are the three main challenges? Explain them and rank them in order of importance.

Question 51

Which country did Argentina fight in the Falklands War of 1982?

A)United States
B)Paraguay
C)Chile
D)France
E)Great Britain