Deck 17: Foreign and Defense Policymaking

Question 1

Which nations are the two major recipients of U.S.foreign aid?

A)France and Great Britain
B)China and Japan
C)El Salvador and Turkey
D)Israel and Egypt
E)Mexico and Canada

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The UN was founded for what purpose?

A)Defense
B)Conflict resolution
C)Poverty relief
D)Trade regulation
E)International aid

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is a Nongovernmental Organization NGO)that is active in the international arena?

A)The United Nations
B)Doctors without Borders
C)Japan
D)NATO
E)Great Britain

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of a Nongovernmental Organization NGO)?

A)The UN
B)The United States
C)Exxon
D)The International Red Cross
E)Great Britain

Question 5

Strategic forces are

A)conventional forces.
B)nuclear forces.
C)traditional forces.
D)nonnuclear forces.
E)opponents' forces.

Question 6

In what sense is the United States the major contributor of foreign aid?

A)As a proportion of the U.S.GDP
B)In terms of number of dollars spent
C)Compared to other democracies
D)Compared to other Western powers
E)In terms of foreign aid received by the U.S.

Question 7

The massive retaliation doctrine

A)said that the U.S.would annihilate Europe if it posed a nuclear threat to the U.S.
B)said that the Soviets would annihilate the U.S.if it put missiles in Europe.
C)was the deterrent between the Soviets and the Communist Chinese.
D)said that the U.S.would strike back against an aggressor with overwhelming force.
E)committed the U.S.to a policy of preemption.

Question 8

Which of the following describes the "democratic peace" theory?

A)Democracies do not wage war against other nations.
B)It is only Democrat presidents who have waged war.
C)It is the responsibility of democracies to ensure international peace.
D)Democracies do not go to war against other democracies.
E)Only a democracy can legitimately wage war.

Question 9

After World War II,American foreign policy was dominated by its relations with which nation?

A)The Soviet Union
B)Japan
C)West Germany
D)Mexico
E)China

Question 10

The policy of preemption

A)was the policy of George W.Bush to act first,before we are attacked.
B)was the policy that defeated the U.S.S.R.in the war in Afghanistan.
C)is the policy of Barack Obama to internationalize the war on terror.
D)was the policy of Harry Truman to contain the Communists.
E)is the policy of the Israelis to contain the Muslims.

Question 11

The United States can deliver nuclear weapons

A)only by launching them from missile silos.
B)only by aircraft.
C)by plane and by submarine.
D)by plane and by truck.
E)by submarine and by truck.

Question 12

Which of the following countries is NOT among the top five recipients of U.S.foreign aid?

A)Turkey
B)Jordan
C)Afghanistan
D)Egypt
E)Colombia

Question 13

With which of the following countries does the U.S.have diplomatic relations?

A)North Korea
B)Iran
C)Cuba
D)Ireland
E)Libya

Question 14

Which of the following is the name for the period of international tension between the United States and Soviet Union that occurred after World War II,and that lasted for most of the twentieth century?

A)Détente
B)The Cold War
C)Isolationism
D)Containment
E)Deterrence

Question 15

Which of the following statements about defense spending between 1960 and 2008 is supported by the graph on page 347?

A)Defense spending drops during times of war.
B)Defense spending on the whole has risen since 1960.
C)Defense spending is on the rise.
D)Defense spending peaked during the late Cold War.
E)Defense spending reached its nadir during the Cold War.

Question 16

In which year did the United States start running a negative trade balance?

A)1950
B)1960
C)1970
D)1980
E)1990

Question 17

Which of the following was the primary reason behind the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO)?

A)Defense of Western Europe against Soviet attack
B)Promotion of economic growth in North America and Western Europe
C)Defense against the remilitarization of Germany
D)Improvement of healthcare in developing countries
E)Monitoring of seismic activity on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT true of the International Monetary Fund?

A)It is part of the United Nations.
B)Its primary purpose is to achieve international economic stability.
C)Its loans are generally provided with no strings attached.
D)The IMF acts as a lending institution.
E)It illustrates the expansion of the UN's role.

Question 19

Conventional forces are

A)strategic forces.
B)nuclear forces.
C)traditional forces.
D)nonnuclear forces.
E)opponents' forces.

Question 20

Mutual Assured Destruction MAD)was a Cold War Doctrine that did all of the following except

A)prevent nuclear war between the U.S.and the U.S.S.R.
B)allow each side in the Cold War an enormous number of nuclear warheads.
C)give each side in the Cold War second-strike capability.
D)cause a nuclear war between Russian and China.
E)keep the U.S.and the U.S.S.R.from going to war.

Question 21

The policy of preemption was created to remove the remaining Communist governments from power.

Question 22

The International Monetary Fund is a regional military organization in Europe.

Question 23

Pakistan developed nuclear weapons

A)to counter the nuclear threat from India.
B)to counter the nuclear threat from North Korea.
C)to increase its number of nuclear reactors for power purposes.
D)to assist its neighbors in developing nuclear weapons.
E)to assist its neighbors in developing nuclear power plants.

Question 24

Name one international organization of which the U.S.is a part,and identify a major objective of that organization.

Question 25

What is NAFTA?

Question 26

The post-9/11 foreign and defense policy of the U.S.includes

A)a policy of détente.
B)Mutual Assured Destruction MAD).
C)controlling the spread of WMDs.
D)a nuclear warhead buildup.
E)a cut-back in the number of armed forces to 500,000.

Question 27

The United Nations is an international organization founded to serve as a forum to resolve international differences and disputes.

Question 28

Name some of the major NGOs and what their impact is on U.S.foreign policy.

Question 29

Give two specific examples of economic means used by the U.S.to achieve foreign policy goals.

Question 30

U.S.defense spending has declined steadily since the end of the Vietnam War.

Question 31

The United States currently imports more than it exports,in dollars.

Question 32

The president and Congress share constitutional authority for foreign and defense policymaking.

Question 33

Explain the use of trade as a tool of foreign policy.

Question 34

Which of the following constitutional powers does the president NOT enjoy?

A)To declare war
B)To negotiate treaties
C)To extend diplomatic recognition
D)To request money for foreign aid and defense
E)To serve as commander in chief of the armed forces

Question 35

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War ended concerns about nuclear weapons.

Question 36

No other pair of nations receives more U.S.foreign aid than the nations of Israel and Egypt.

Question 37

After the end of the Cold War,the U.S.scaled back its conventional forces.

Question 38

Who heads America's armed forces?

A)The president
B)The secretary of defense
C)The chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
D)The national security advisor
E)The vice president

Question 39

NATO is a military alliance between the U.S. ,Canada,and many European nations.

Question 40

Which of the following presidents presided over the war on terror that included armed conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq?

A)Richard Nixon
B)Jimmy Carter
C)George W.Bush
D)Ronald Reagan
E)Gerald Ford

Question 41

What is the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

Question 42

What tools does the United States have to achieve its foreign policies? Write an essay in which you identify the four general means the U.S.uses to pursue its foreign policy goals.Discuss each of the means in some detail,giving at least two examples of each.

Question 43

What factor was most responsible for halting the defense buildup of the early 1980s?

Question 44

Read Samuel Huntington's essay,"Clash of Civilizations," which you can find on the Internet.Write an essay outlining what Huntington has to say and whether or not you agree with him.How do you think his ideas relate to our relationship with the Muslim nations of the Middle East?

Question 45

What did George W.Bush mean when he said,"When it comes to our security,we really don't need anybody's permission?"

Question 46

The attacks of September 11,2001,brought new perspectives and new urgency to the task of foreign policymaking.Write an essay in which you explain how the terrorist violence changed U.S.foreign policy approaches.In the essay,describe the policy of preemption and the older policy of deterrence.

Question 47

What formal and informal powers are at the disposal of the president in forming foreign policy?

Question 48

Compare the strategies advocated by U.S.presidents in the last decades.What factors have been most important in driving changing strategies?

Question 49

The Constitution's separation of powers in practice means that separate institutions share power.That is certainly the case with foreign policymaking.Write an essay in which you outline the constitutional division of powers between the executive and legislative branches in foreign policymaking.Discuss how these constitutional provisions often lead to conflict between Congress and the White House.Use specific examples to illustrate your points.

Question 50

Explain what the term deterrence means.