Deck 15: Foreign Policy

Question 1

Moral idealism is a philosophy that

A) sees 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) sees 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 1

A

Question 2

The practice of sending experts with technical skills to aid other nations is called

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

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A member of the National Security Council (NSC)

A) may advise the president on foreign policy matters.
B) must serve on a Senate subcommittee on foreign affairs.
C) may serve as an advisor to foreign diplomats.
D) also serves as an advisor to the Secretary of the Army.
E) All of the above are true.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Diplomacy refers to

A) a title given to senior members of the State Department.
B) a philosophy that sees nations as normally willing to cooperate.
C) formal public meetings held by heads of government.
D) the settling of disputes and conflicts among nations by peaceful methods.
E) the manner in which the armed forces are deployed.

Question 5

Which of the following statements is true of the terror attacks of 9/11?

A) Americans were forced to change their views of national security.
B) One of the major challenges for U.S. foreign and national security policy became how best to respond to an attack on the United States by China.
C) Americans found that the attacks on the World Trade Center had been planned and carried out by a terrorist network called al Qaeda.
D) Americans still knew that regional conflicts in other parts of the world had no direct impact on the United States.
E) Options A and C are true.

Question 6

U.S. foreign policy may be carried out through

A) diplomacy.
B) economic aid.
C) technical assistance.
D) military intervention.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 7

By foreign policy, we mean

A) a nation's external goals and the techniques and strategies 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 treaties that are ratified by the Senate.
E) the manner in which the armed forces are deployed.

Question 8

Which of the following is true about reinstating a military draft?

A) The draft would have no affect on long and repeat deployments for National Guard troops.
B) Children of wealthy people would be able to buy deferments from the draft.
C) A draft requires draftees to serve in the military. No civilian assignments would be allowed as substitution for the service requirement.
D) A draft would decrease the cost of the military because draftees would be paid less than military recruits are paid today.
E) A draft would provide too many troops and those with no deployments would spend too much time waiting at bases.

Question 9

In 2002, President George W. Bush enunciated a new foreign policy doctrine, the "Bush Doctrine," which held, in part, that

A) the United States was prepared to wage preemptive war against perceived threats, with or without allies.
B) the United States would go to war with any country that attacked it.
C) Islamists would not be allowed to take power in any additional nations.
D) America would leave the United Nations if that body did not support its military initiatives.
E) the United States would no longer participate in the World Trade Organization or in the World Bank.

Question 10

The first Gulf War

A) restored to Iraq a province that had been separated by the British after World War II.
B) was supported by large-scale demonstrations in Kuwait City.
C) was undertaken after Hussein reached a diplomatic agreement with Saudi Arabia.
D) began with Saddam Hussein's annexation of Kuwait in 1990.
E) remained in effect until George W. Bush initiated the Second Gulf War in 2003.

Question 11

Goals of the al Qaeda terrorist network have apparently included

A) getting U. S. forces out of countries in the Middle East.
B) ending U.S. support for Egypt.
C) independence for the Basque region of Spain.
D) getting Turkish forces out of Cyprus.
E) forcing the United States to withdraw troops from South Korea.

Question 12

At times idealism and realism are at conflict in foreign affairs. Which of the following is true about the Arab Spring?

A) During the recent uprisings, the United States had to sustain its longstanding alliance with a dictator in Egypt and ended up on the wrong side when the rebels won.
B) The King of Saudi Arabia demanded that the United States support the rebels seeking democracy in Egypt and Tunisia.
C) The United States and European Allies intervened with airpower to assist the rebels in Libya to liberate their country from a long-standing dictatorship.
D) The United States and European allies intervened with airpower to assist the rebels in Iran to liberate their country from a long-standing dictatorship.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 13

Political realism is a philosophy that

A) sees 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) sees 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.

Question 14

Assistance to other nations in the form of grants, loans, or credits to buy the assisting nation's products is called

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

Question 15

With regard to national security,

A) the National Security Council acts as an advisory body to the president and has become a rival to the State Department in influencing the foreign policy process.
B) the policy itself is determined by the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and a number of other federal agencies.
C) it is concerned with the defense of the United States against actual or potential future enemies.
D) it is designed to protect our country's independence and political integrity.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 16

The set of policies having to do with the U.S. armed forces is called

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

Question 17

The draft

A) was used for the first time during the war in Vietnam.
B) if started today, would not provide enough men for the U.S. military.
C) wouldn't prevent troop shortages unless women were drafted too.
D) requires approval of the Supreme Court.
E) is forced military conscription.

Question 18

Critics of the Bush Doctrine

A) believed that a preemptive attack was better than what President Bush had proposed as part of his new doctrine.
B) cited the damage it would do to the domestic economy.
C) pointed out that preemptive wars against other nations have traditionally been waged by dictator and rogue states, not democratic nations.
D) claimed that launching preemptive war would allow the United States to pursue world peace by eliminating terrorism.
E) believed that by endorsing such a policy, the United States could argue against decisions of other nations to do the same when they felt threatened.

Question 19

Which of the following statements is true regarding terrorism?

A) The 911 attacks were the only attacks on civilians by Islamic extremists.
B) In 2004, Islamic extremists killed nearly 200 people in a railroad bombing in Spain.
C) Al Qaeda affiliates have not been active in Islamic nations, preferring to focus on western targets.
D) Al Qaeda's ultimate goals are limited to forcing the United States to withdraw from the Middle East.
E) The Basque terrorists in Spain have no clear objectives.

Question 20

Terrorism

A) is a systematic attempt to inspire fear to gain political ends.
B) typically includes indiscriminate use of violence against noncombatants.
C) is a term that was coined to refer to radicals who were in control of the government at the height of the French Revolution (1789-1799).
D) Both options A and B are true.
E) Options A, B, and C are true.

Question 21

North Korea

A) has been of little concern for the United States since the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
B) has dismantled all of its nuclear weapons in exchange for food.
C) pulled back on its treaty obligations and in 2009 tested a long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
D) ordered UN inspectors to come back to the country to verify that all nuclear missiles had been destroyed and that it was only using nuclear devices for creating electricity.
E) had its navy attacked by South Korean and a North Korean ship was sunk.

Question 22

Humanitarian efforts

A) and assistance have been a major component of America's foreign policy.
B) during the Bush administration more than doubled the value of U.S. foreign aid provided to African nations.
C) given to African nations have been aimed at combating AIDS.
D) were carried out by the United States in Haiti after a major earthquake in 2010.
E) All the above are true.

Question 23

One of the problems for the State Department domestically is that

A) it has "negative constituents"-citizens who oppose the government's policies.
B) it is responsible for the CIA.
C) it answers to Congress first and only then to the president.
D) no new president will retain senior-level diplomats who are not of his political party.
E) it is criticized for not spending enough on foreign aid.

Question 24

Sunnis and Shiites

A) are two major ethnic groups in Iraq who speak different languages.
B) are two branches of the religion of Islam with somewhat different beliefs and traditions.
C) are two branches of the Kurdish-speaking people of northern Iraq.
D) are two political parties in the Arab world.
E) are the names of two refugee camps that were destroyed by Israel.

Question 25

Examples of cyberattacks include

A) Chinese government operatives are suspected of subverting computer networks of American corporations to steal software code and other industrial secrets.
B) the Chinese Government has hacked the codes of the U.S. missile launch system in order to launch an attack on a third party and blame it on the United States.
C) The United States is suspected of launching an attack worm to damage the Iranian nuclear program.
D) Both options A and C are true.
E) Options A, B, and C are true.

Question 26

All of the following are true of the Second Gulf War except

A) President Bush decided to take unilateral action against Iraq.
B) the UN Security Council was not convinced that UN forces should take action to enforce resolutions that had been passed against Iraq.
C) the war began when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.
D) establishing order and creating a new government in Iraq turned out to be extraordinarily difficult for the United States.
E) Coalition forces put an immediate halt to looting and disorder in the country.

Question 27

The influence of the Secretary of State on the President of the United States

A) has frequently been weakly exercised.
B) has been greater than normal for Secretary Hillary Clinton in the Obama Administration.
C) has generally been greater than the National Security Council.
D) Both options A and B are true.
E) Options A, B, and C are true.

Question 28

President Obama

A) in his presidential campaign called for reducing American troop levels in Afghanistan.
B) recalled 50,000 troops in 2009, in the wake of increased violence in Afghanistan.
C) discouraged Pakistan from attempting to root out Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives because it was causing more terrorists to cross the border into Afghanistan.
D) sent an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan in a surge to calm the violence in 2009.
E) began using drones to attack drug lords in Afghanistan to reduce the opium traffic.

Question 29

Presidents have been largely successful in getting treaties

A) approved by the World Court.
B) through both the House and the Senate.
C) approved by the Supreme Court.
D) through the Senate.
E) approved by the State Department.

Question 30

Which of the following statements regarding the end of the Iraq War is true?

A) By late 2006, two-thirds of Americans wanted to see an end to the Iraq War.
B) President Obama supported the Iraq War and argued for more troops to gain an upper hand in the conflict when he was a candidate for president.
C) President Bush ordered a major decrease in U.S. troops in Iraq in early in 2007.
D) President Obama announced that all combat troops would withdraw from Iraq by 2014.
E) Both options A and D are true.

Question 31

The government agencies that are involved in gathering information about the capabilities and intentions of foreign governments are collectively known as

A) the Washington community.
B) the armed services consortium.
C) the intelligence community.
D) the National Security Council.
E) regulatory agencies.

Question 32

The State Department is

A) directly responsible to Congress.
B) not involved in short-term foreign policy.
C) the executive agency that is most directly concerned with foreign affairs.
D) responsible for making foreign policy, not the president.
E) one of the largest cabinet departments.

Question 33

All of the following are true of China and the United Sates except

A) since 1972, American policy has hoped to gradually engage the Chinese in diplomatic and economic relationships to move China in a 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 United States securities.
D) China exports substantially more goods and services to the United States than it imports.
E) in 1980, China was not given most-favored-nation status by the United States and this has hurt their relationship.

Question 34

A majority of the population of Iraq is

A) Sunni Arab.
B) Kurdish.
C) Shiite Arab.
D) Turkoman.
E) Baathist.

Question 35

The economic crisis in Europe is complicated by the fact that

A) seventeen nations share a common currency.
B) Greece and Portugal had borrowed excessively.
C) in Ireland and Spain, many real estate loans went sour, threatening the banks that made them.
D) the Euro-periphery countries could not borrow from the European central bank to shore up money supplies.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 36

Which of the following statements regarding China's economy is true?

A) China's economy has grown at a rate of about 10 percent annually for the past several decades.
B) In 2007, China manufactured more passenger automobiles than did the United States.
C) The growth of the Chinese economy during the last thirty-five years is one of the most important developments in world history.
D) Both options B and C are true.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 37

To which international issues has the United States applied diplomacy instead of military force?

A) The proliferation of nuclear weapons
B) The growing power of China.
C) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict
D) The global economic crisis
E) All of the above.

Question 38

The internationally recognized solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is that

A) the Palestinians resettle in Jordan 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 all citizens have equal rights.
D) Israel yields the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinians; both Israelis and Palestinians may settle in either country.
E) Israel should yield up all territory not granted to it by the UN in 1948, including all of Jerusalem.

Question 39

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 40

Which is true in regard to Afghanistan?

A) The invasion of Afghanistan soundly defeated the Taliban extremists who had ruled the country since 1996.
B) There was no collaboration between the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. They had different objectives.
C) The United States and other members of the international community fostered the creation of an elected Afghan government.
D) The Taliban returned to strength after the invasion in 2001 and began again to attack American soldiers but avoided civilian casualties to win them over to their cause.
E) President Obama has not announced a date for the commencement of troop withdrawals because of the ongoing violence.

Question 41

The key official member of the intelligence community is the

A) Central Intelligence Agency.
B) Department of Defense.
C) Federal Bureau of Investigation.
D) Drug Enforcement Administration.
E) National Security Agency.

Question 42

In recent years, the United States

A) believes that Russia is ending its aggressive attitude towards its neighboring countries.
B) angered Russia by its plans for antimissile defenses in Eastern Europe.
C) needed Russian assistance with curbing Iran's nuclear program.
D) under President Obama developed a new, largely land-based, missile program aimed at Iran.
E) Options B and C are true.

Question 43

A major determinant of U.S. foreign policy in the formative years was

A) that this country was destined to become a very powerful nation.
B) that the United States has been very weak militarily.
C) the influence of religion.
D) the strength of the new navy.
E) our interest in the Pacific.

Question 44

All of the following statements about the war in Vietnam are true except

A) the war was an effort to exercise containment policy.
B) the war was between the pro-west North and the pro-Communist South Vietnam.
C) more than 58,000 American forces were killed.
D) the U.S. involvement in the war caused contention at home and led to Congressional efforts to limit the war powers of the presidency.
E) the war greatly expanded during the Johnson Administration.

Question 45

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) extended 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 46

The concept of détente

A) comes from a Spanish word meaning peace.
B) comes from a French word meaning a relaxation of tensions.
C) came to symbolize the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
D) Both options B and C are true.
E) None of the above is true.

Question 47

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) the same leader of government that it had when it started World War II.
D) a weakened economy.
E) an intention to expand its role in the world.

Question 48

One potential congressional tool for ending a war is

A) cutting funding for the war.
B) negotiating peace treaties.
C) replacing the Secretary of Defense.
D) canceling weapons system orders.
E) Sending an ultimatum with unanimous signatures to the president.

Question 49

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 block the spread of Communism to additional countries.
E) Both options B and D are true.

Question 50

During the Cold War, there was (were)

A) continuous conversation between United States and Soviet military advisors.
B) no 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 United States and Soviet ground troops during the Korean War.
E) occasional dogfights between United States and Soviet fighter planes over Europe.

Question 51

American isolationism permanently ended

A) with the onset of the Great Depression.
B) with the bombing of the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor.
C) when the United States entered the United Nations.
D) when France and the United States signed a mutual alliance pact.
E) with the Korean War.

Question 52

Intelligence activities

A) consist mostly of overt information gathering.
B) are administered by the Department of Education since the main focus is intelligence gathering.
C) play a rather small role in foreign policy formation.
D) include covert actions carried out in secret that most Americans rarely find out about.
E) Both options A and D are true.

Question 53

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 54

A major theme in U.S. foreign policy

A) in the early years, was aimed at getting very involved in foreign entanglements.
B) in the twentieth century, has been increasing global involvement.
C) has been inconsistent and changes with the current president.
D) attempts to make the United States a major supporter of pollution control and global warming.
E) today focuses on bringing immigrants from other countries to the United States to help fill low paying jobs.

Question 55

The Monroe Doctrine stated that

A) the United States would not accept any new European intervention in the Western Hemisphere and the United States would not meddle in European affairs.
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 56

The Department of Defense

A) is smaller than the State Department.
B) was created in 1947, to gather all military activities under one department secretary.
C) is headed by the military joint chiefs of staff.
D) has consistently grown in size under every president.
E) is staffed entirely by uniformed personnel.

Question 57

Which of the following is true of the Soviet bloc?

A) Its formation was the turning point in World War II.
B) It helped to improve relations between the Soviet Union and the United States.
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 58

During the 1800s, the United States generally

A) stayed out of European conflicts and politics but pursued an expansionist policy in the Western hemisphere.
B) pursued an expansionist and activist policy in both European conflicts and in this hemisphere.
C) pursued an expansionist policy in European conflicts but stayed out of matters in this hemisphere.
D) stayed out of both European conflicts and matters in this hemisphere.
E) has been characterized as Pax Americana.

Question 59

The power of the purse means that

A) the president controls the budget appropriations process.
B) the Congress retains the Constitutional power on spending authority.
C) The military branch heads determine the budget allocations for defense spending depending on the cost of weapons systems.
D) the president has the power to raise taxes in time of war.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 60

United States foreign policy toward Europe during most of 1800s was

A) isolationism.
B) interventionist.
C) internationalist.
D) one of détente.
E) multilateral.

Question 61

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

Question 62

Describe the various uprisings in the Arab Spring countries and the outcomes of each revolt to date.

Question 63

What problems might there be if the draft was used again in the United States?

Question 64

Explain the intervention of the United States in Afghanistan and the problems encountered there by the U.S. Forces.

Question 65

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

Question 66

Describe the difference between moral idealism and political realism and provide examples of each from the history of American foreign policy.

Question 67

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

Question 68

In what ways has the United States offered humanitarian assistance in different parts of the world?

Question 69

Describe U.S. efforts to handle international issues with diplomacy rather than armed force. In your examples, were these efforts largely successful or failures?

Question 70

Will the relationship between the United States and Russia be substantially different from the relationship that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War? Why or why not?

Question 71

Explain the urgency of containing Iran's efforts to build a nuclear weapon. Which path do you suggest at this point in time to stop the weapons program? What are the consequences (intended and unintended) of the action that you advocate?