Deck 14: Foreign Policy

Question 1

In the past, terrorism was a strategy typically employed by radicals who

A) wanted to change the status of a particular nation or province.
B) were religiously motivated.
C) were uneducated.
D) did not have clear-cut aims.
E) were part of the al Qaeda network.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The Bush Doctrine supports the strategy of

A) preemptive war.
B) U.S. isolationism.
C) moral idealism.
D) withdrawal from the United Nations.
E) Islamic containment.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Moral idealism is a philosophy that

A) views nations as normally willing to cooperate and agree on moral standards for conduct.
B) mandates noninterference with the internal policies of sovereign nations.
C) supports steps to establish a single world government.
D) views each nation as acting in its own interest regardless of moral considerations.
E) contends that spreading Christianity ought to be a major goal of U.S. foreign policy.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following was an apparent goal of al-Qaeda?

A) Getting the United States to withdraw its troops from countries in the Middle East
B) Overthrowing Egypt
C) Independence for Basque Spain
D) Removing Greek forces out of Cyprus
E) Forcing the United States to withdraw troops from Nigeria

Question 5

The process by which states carry on political relations with each other is called

A) interventionism.
B) diplomacy.
C) economic policy.
D) The Geneva Convention.
E) development efforts.

Question 6

U. S. foreign policy may be carried out through all of the following techniques EXCEPT

A) diplomatic relations.
B) foreign aid.
C) technical assistance.
D) military invasions.
E) by municipal taxation.

Question 7

According to critics of the Bush Doctrine,

A) it does not go far enough in protecting U.S. interests.
B) it does not protect U.S. interests.
C) it is a contradiction of democratic values.
D) it violates the idea of political realism.
E) it signals U.S. weakness.

Question 8

controlled the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein.

A) Kurds
B) Sunnis
C) Shiites
D) Sunnis and Shiites
E) al Qaeda

Question 9

As one aspect of overall foreign policy, concerns itself with the defense of the United States against actual or potential future enemies.

A) diplomacy
B) preemptive policy
C) anticipatory policy
D) national security policy
E) domestic policy

Question 10

The best definition of foreign policy is

A) a nation's external goals as well as the techniques and strategies used to achieve them.
B) the formal agreements that are approved by the World Court.
C) interactions with other countries that are not related to economics.
D) the collection of treaties that are ratified by the Senate.
E) the manner in which the armed forces are deployed.

Question 11

Which President introduced the concept of "preemptive war."

A) Ronald Reagan
B) George Bush
C) George W. Bush
D) Lyndon B. Johnson
E) Bill Clinton

Question 12

The "surge" in January 2007

A) was probably perpetrated by Iraqi Kurds.
B) greatly increased the number of casualties among coalition troops.
C) killed Saddam Hussein.
D) was a major turning point in the insurgency in Iraq.
E) ended the war in Iraq.

Question 13

The set of policies that direct the nature and activities of the U.S. armed forces is called

A) intelligence policy.
B) defense policy.
C) military-industrial policy.
D) foreign assistance policy.
E) diplomacy.

Question 14

Which of the following statements best describes the role of the National Security Council?

A) It is an advisory body to the president on foreign policy matters.
B) It works for the State Department.
C) It serves as a Congressional standing committee.
D) It is a military advisory body.
E) It is a private research council that provides analysis of world events to businesses and individuals.

Question 15

Which of the following statements best describes political realism?

A) This philosophy views nations as normally willing to cooperate and agree on moral standards for conduct.
B) This philosophy is a neo-isolationist one.
C) This philosophy wants to create a single world government.
D) This philosophy views each nation as acting in its own interest regardless of moral considerations.
E) This philosophy advocates the spread of Islam.

Question 16

A month after invading Iraq in 2003, U.S. and British forces

A) still had not had any effect on Saddam Hussein's regime.
B) had ended Saddam Hussein's decades­old dictatorship.
C) were finally able to convince the UN Security Council that military force was necessary in Iraq.
D) were able to withdraw.
E) formally recognized that the war had been a mistake.

Question 17

In 1980, China was granted for tariffs and trade policy on a year-to-year basis.

A) normal trade relations status
B) most-favored nation status
C) favorite nation status
D) superior trade relations status

Question 18

The practice of sending of experts in areas such as agriculture, engineering, or business to aid other nations is called

A) an in-kind subsidy.
B) a tariff.
C) technical assistance.
D) exports.
E) military aid.

Question 19

Which of the following statements is true regarding foreign policy?

A) The United States used to be guided by a mix of political realism and moral idealism, but is now guided solely by political realism.
B) The United States used to be guided solely by moral idealism, but is now guided mostly by political realism.
C) The United States used to be guided solely by political realism, but is now guided mostly by moral idealism.
D) The United States has always been guided solely by political realism.
E) The United States has always been guided by a mix of moral idealism and political realism.

Question 20

Which of the following groups comprise a majority of the population of Iraq?

A) Sunni Arabs
B) Kurds
C) Shiite Arabs
D) Turkoman
E) Baath

Question 21

In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution, which

A) required congressional approval before the president could dismiss the Secretary of Defense.
B) limited the president's use of troops in military action without congressional approval.
C) expanded the president's power over the military.
D) was necessary because of the increased threat of nuclear war.
E) allowed the president to declare an unlimited national emergency.

Question 22

More than nuclear warheads are known to be stockpiled worldwide.

A) 80
B) 900
C) 6,000
D) 22,000
E) 500,000

Question 23

In 2004, the legislature established the to oversee the intelligence community.

A) Department of Homeland Security
B) National Security Council
C) vice presidency
D) Office of the Director of National Intelligence
E) State Department

Question 24

The responsibilities of the State Department include

A) formulating defense policy.
B) appointing the Secretary of State.
C) directly overseeing U.S. intelligence agencies.
D) staffing U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.
E) overseeing U.S. military operations.

Question 25

Which of the following best describes the intelligence community?

A) The people in Washington who make policy
B) The armed services
C) The government agencies that gather information about the capabilities and intentions of foreign governments
D) The people who report directly to the President
E) Regulatory agencies

Question 26

In January 2006, won a majority of the seats in the Palestinian legislature, an alarming development since it has called for the destruction of Israel.

A) the militant group Hamas
B) the Kurdish People's Liberation Front
C) the militant group Hezbollah
D) the Palestine Liberation Organization
E) the extremist group Free Jerusalem Now

Question 27

Which of the following best describes the internationally recognized solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute?

A) The Palestinians should be resettled in Israel with full compensation.
B) Israel yields the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinians in return for security guarantees and Palestinian abandonment of any right of return to Israel proper.
C) Israelis and Palestinians should both be part of a single state in which both enjoy equal rights.
D) Israel should cease to exist, because its creation happened illegally.
E) Israel should yield up all territory not granted to it by the UN in 1948, including all of Jerusalem.

Question 28

Starting with , all presidents have interpreted their authority as "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States" dynamically and broadly.

A) John F. Kennedy
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) George Washington
D) Abraham Lincoln
E) Theodore Roosevelt

Question 29

All of the following are true of relations between China and the United Sates EXCEPT

A) since 1972, American policy has been to gradually engage the Chinese in diplomatic and economic relationships in the hope of turning China in a more pro-Western direction.
B) there are large and growing trade ties between the United States and China.
C) instead of goods and services, China has imported U.S. securities.
D) China exports substantially more goods and services to the United States than it imports.
E) China was denied normal trade relations NTR) status by the United States, which has hurt their relationship.

Question 30

In 2009, tested a long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.

A) Iran
B) Pakistan
C) Afghanistan
D) North Korea
E) South Africa

Question 31

The ideological, political, and economic confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union following World War II was called

A) the Iron Curtain.
B) the Red Scare.
C) the Orange Revolution.
D) East-meets-West.
E) the Cold War.

Question 32

In regard to control over the foreign policy process, Edwin S. Corwin once observed that the U.S. Constitution created between the president and Congress an)

A) "unchecked union."
B) "patriotic display of cooperation."
C) "symbiotic partnership."
D) "opportunity for compromise."
E) "invitation to struggle."

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a member of the National Security Council?

A) The president of the United States
B) The vice president of the United States
C) The secretary of state
D) The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
E) The secretary of defense

Question 34

Which of the following was a major foreign policy development during the Vietnam War?

A) Another Cuban Missile Crisis of sorts involving China and the United States
B) An improvement in U.S. foreign policy
C) Despite the backing of the United States, South Vietnam fell to North Vietnam
D) The creation of the U.S. Navy SEALS
E) Border clashes that almost resulted in full-blown nuclear war between the USSR and Iran

Question 35

If the president orders that a certain action be taken, but Congress blocks the action from being executed by refusing to fund it, Congress is exercising

A) conscientious objection.
B) its power of the purse.
C) it veto power.
D) its right to free speech.
E) its override power.

Question 36

The fighting between Israel and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip resulted in all of the following EXCEPT

A) almost two thousand casulaties suffered by Palesinians.
B) light Israeli casulaties.
C) the expulsion of Hamas from Gaza by Israel.
D) condemnation of Israel by many nations worldwide.
E) continued support of Israel by the United States.

Question 37

China's position is that sooner or later, Taiwan

A) must rejoin the rest of China.
B) will be granted permanent independence.
C) must join with Hong Kong as a single independent territory.
D) will be returned to the United Kingdom.
E) will be divided into several smaller territories and distributed among the region's major powers.

Question 38

Which of the following statements about executive agreements is true?

A) They are unconstitutional.
B) They are only used when the World Court rejected a treaty.
C) They accounted for almost 95 percent of the understandings reached between the United States and other nations.
D) The House and the Senate overwhelmingly ratifies them.
E) They are obsolete.

Question 39

President Obama was among a number of world leaders calling for

A) a lifting of sanctions against Iran.
B) the dissolution of the European Union.
C) trade sanctions against China.
D) an attack on Taiwan.
E) a German change of course in EU monetary policy.

Question 40

Although larger than any other federal department, the Department of Defense

A) declined in size after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
B) declined in size after the end of World War II.
C) significantly increased in size with the election of Barack Obama.
D) significantly increased in size after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
E) declined significantly in size after the withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2011.

Question 41

Explain the emergence of terrorism as the strategy of choice for groups in the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries and how governments have attempted to battle terrorists.

Question 42

Which of the following is true about the Soviet bloc?

A) Its formation was the turning point in World War II.
B) It was made up of countries that had seceded from the Soviet Union.
C) It consisted of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries with Communist regimes.
D) It was designed to prevent supplies from entering West Berlin in 1948.
E) It was the alliance set up by the United States and Western Europe to counter the Soviet Union.

Question 43

Analyze the two Iraq wars in terms of both causes and consequences, and assess the impact of both on the future of the Middle East.

Question 44

In what ways has the United States made humanitarian efforts in different parts of the world?

Question 45

Explain the problem of nuclear proliferation in relation to Iran and North Korea.

Question 46

After World War I, the United States returned to a state of "normalcy" in foreign policy, which meant

A) a continued commitment to international peacekeeping.
B) reassuring the public that the United States would act in the role of world policeman.
C) a sharp increase in military spending in order to honor commitments made to the allied powers.
D) a reduction in military forces and defense spending and a return to isolationism.
E) the annexation of additional territory in the Western Hemisphere.

Question 47

During the Cold War, there was

A) a continuous diplomatic exchange between U.S. and Soviet military advisors.
B) never any direct military conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.
C) an occasional exchange of artillery fire across the East German/West German border.
D) direct fighting between U.S. and Soviet ground troops during the Korean War.
E) occasional dogfights between U.S. and Soviet fighter planes over Europe.

Question 48

The United States was the only major country to emerge from World War II with

A) an addition to its territory.
B) operational nuclear weapons.
C) less than 2,000 casualties.
D) a weakened economy.
E) an intention to expand its role in the world.

Question 49

Explain the role of the United States in Afghanistan and the problems encountered there.

Question 50

The doctrine of containment set forth by George F. Kennan

A) proposed that the United States should seek to "roll back" Communism in Eastern Europe.
B) was expressed in the Truman Doctrine enunciated by President Harry Truman in 1947.
C) called for the United States to initiate arms reduction talks.
D) said that the United States should seek to contain Communist power by invading the Soviet Union.
E) was discredited by NATO.

Question 51

How important is the relationship between the United States and Russia compared to other countries today?

Question 52

Which of the following statements best generalizes United States foreign policy during the 1800s?

A) The United States mostly stayed out of European conflicts and politics, but pursued an expansionist policy in the Western Hemisphere.
B) The United States expanded around the globe.
C) The United States intervened in Europe, but stayed isolated from the Western Hemisphere.
D) The United States acted completely isolationist.
E) The United States did not engage in any wars in the 1800s.

Question 53

U.S. foreign-policy isolationism can be said to have ended completely when

A) The Great Depression began.
B) Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor.
C) the United Nations was founded.
D) France and the United States signed a mutual alliance pact during the American Revolution.
E) the Korean War started.

Question 54

Explain the constitutional clash of powers between the president and Congress in the area of foreign policymaking.

Question 55

Describe the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and the efforts to bring peace to this troubled part of the world.

Question 56

Perhaps the closest the United States and the Soviet Union came to a nuclear confrontation was the

A) Cuban missile crisis.
B) Battle of the Bulge.
C) Tet Offensive.
D) Khmer Rouge massacre.
E) Warsaw standoff.

Question 57

Explain the role that China has come to play in the world. How should the United States interact with China in the future?

Question 58

The Monroe Doctrine stated that

A) European nations should not establish new colonies in the Western Hemisphere or intervene in the affairs of independent nations of the Western Hemisphere.
B) the United States had the authority to intervene in the affairs of European nations if American interests were at stake.
C) the United States would take action against the Barbary pirates in order to protect American lives and commerce.
D) the United States would not wait to be attacked, but rather would take preemptive action against clear and present dangers.
E) the United States would only conduct business with other nations by employing treaties.

Question 59

Should the United States practice a foreign policy more oriented toward moral idealism or political realism, and why?

Question 60

Why did the United States turn to China when North Korea conducted a second nuclear test? Was this a good idea? Why or why not?