Deck 18: National Security Policymaking

Question 1

What was Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative envisioned to accomplish?

A)protect the United States from nuclear weapons
B)promote democracy by fostering economic development
C)reduce the number of nuclear warheads held by both the United States and the Soviet Union
D)refocus the military on nonconventional warfare

Answer 1

protect the United States from nuclear weapons

Question 2

Which of the following tactics has Al Qaeda used effectively?

A)détente
B)mutually assured destruction
C)nuclear proliferation
D)terrorism

Answer 2

terrorism

Question 3

Why was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed?

A)to provide mutual defense for the United States and Western Europe
B)to promote free trade between the United States and Western Europe
C)to help rebuild war-torn Europe after World War II
D)to enhance democratic government in newly industrializing countries

Answer 3

to provide mutual defense for the United States and Western Europe

Question 4

The United States engaged in which of the following military conflicts in order to fight against communist forces?

A)World War I
B)World War II
C)the Vietnam War
D)the war on terrorism

Question 5

Combat troops were introduced in Iraq began under __________ and withdrawn under __________.

A)Bill Clinton;George H.W.Bush
B)Bill Clinton;George W.Bush
C)George H.W.Bush;Barack Obama
D)George W.Bush;Barack Obama

Question 6

Which of the following countries is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council?

A)Germany
B)India
C)Spain
D)the United States

Question 7

Who serves on the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

A)the cabinet secretaries
B)the commanding officers of each of the services
C)the president's foreign policy advisers
D)the secretary of defense,the secretary of homeland security,and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Question 8

Who is the president's chief adviser on intelligence matters?

A)the director of the Central Intelligence Agency
B)the director of national intelligence
C)the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
D)the National Security Agency

Question 9

Which of the following constrained Pakistan's efforts to fight terrorists who have emerged in some areas of Pakistan?

A)Pakistan is a poor nation and lacked international assistance to fight the terrorists.
B)There was substantial sympathy for the Taliban among many Pakistani military and intelligence officials.
C)The terrorists took over large cities and were beyond the government's control.
D)The terrorists had shown no sign of being dangerous,so the Pakistani government was not concerned about them.

Question 10

Which of the following countries is a member of NATO?

A)Russia
B)China
C)Japan
D)Canada

Question 11

What is the primary responsibility of the secretary of defense?

A)homeland security
B)military policy
C)domestic security
D)commander in chief of the armed forces

Question 12

During which of the following events did U.S.military spending comprise the highest percentage of federal spending?

A)the Vietnam War
B)the Reagan administration
C)the war in Iraq
D)the war in Afghanistan

Question 13

What was the foreign policy of containment designed to prevent?

A)nuclear proliferation
B)the spread of Soviet influence
C)terrorism
D)the Cold War

Question 14

One of the primary purposes of the military action in Afghanistan was to __________.

A)prevent the spread of communism
B)remove the Taliban regime
C)protect Iraq from Afghani military attacks
D)retaliate for the bombing of the USS Cole

Question 15

Who is the main force behind U.S.foreign policy?

A)Congress
B)the president
C)the State Department
D)the National Security Council

Question 16

Which of the following best describes the arms race?

A)the rapid movements of world governments to arm and thereby protect Eastern European countries from attack by the Soviet Union in the wake of World War II
B)a tense relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s during which each side was striving to procure more weapons than the other
C)the U.S.race in the early twenty-first century to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction to unstable governments
D)the efforts to rapidly reduce the number of nuclear weapons held by the United States and the Soviet Union

Question 17

Which of the following best describes U.S.foreign aid?

A)Americans greatly overestimate the amount that is spent on foreign aid.
B)Most foreign aid programs are aimed at providing medical care and other services in less-developed nations.
C)Foreign aid primarily consists of various loan programs that provide favorable interest rates and preferential trade agreements for nations that lower trade barriers.
D)Foreign aid primarily consists of advice from the U.S.government to less-developed nations in Africa and Asia.

Question 18

Who instituted the Marshall Plan and who benefited directly from it?

A)The Soviet Union instituted the Marshall Plan to benefit Germany.
B)Germany instituted the Marshall Plan to benefit itself.
C)The United Nations instituted the Marshall Plan to benefit Germany,Italy,and Japan.
D)The United States instituted the Marshall Plan to benefit Europe.

Question 19

What event marked the end of the Cold War?

A)the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis
B)the collapse of the Soviet Union
C)the signing of the SALT II Treaty
D)the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan

Question 20

Which international organization is composed of nearly 200 member nations and was created after World War II for peacekeeping and other functions?

A)the League of Nations
B)the United Nations
C)the World Trade Organization
D)the Marshall Plan

Question 21

How are tourists most likely to be of benefit to international relations?

A)Tourists are the largest carriers of diseases in the world.
B)Tourists help build goodwill between countries.
C)Tourists confirm negative stereotypes about foreign countries.
D)Tourists typically increase the trade deficit.

Question 22

Which of the following helps to explain why a country's economy may be negatively affected by an economic crisis in another country?

A)a negative balance of trade
B)a positive balance of trade
C)isolationism
D)interdependency

Question 23

Which of the following is a reason why the United States is considered to be predominant in terms of military capabilities?

A)The United States spends less on defense than does any other industrialized democracy.
B)The United States has underwhelming nuclear superiority.
C)The United States has the world's dominant air force and the only navy with worldwide operations.
D)The United States has lost the unique capability to project power around the world.

Question 24

Which of the following is composed of a broad array of the president's foreign policy advisers including the secretary of defense,the secretary of state,the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,and the director of national intelligence?

A)the Department of Homeland Security
B)NATO
C)the National Security Council
D)the Central Intelligence Agency

Question 25

Which of the following is most consistent with the concept of diplomacy?

A)counterintelligence
B)military threats
C)negotiation
D)confrontation

Question 26

The Senate can exercise influence over foreign policy through its power to __________.

A)command the armed forces
B)receive diplomats
C)ratify treaties
D)recognize the sovereignty of foreign countries

Question 27

Which of the following countries would have been most opposed to the policy of containment?

A)United Kingdom
B)France
C)Soviet Union
D)United States

Question 28

Which of the following is an example of a situation in which economic sanctions accomplished the intended goal?

A)sanctions levied against South Africa in the mid-1980s to protest apartheid
B)the grain embargo on the Soviet Union in 1980 in retaliation for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
C)the sanctions against Cuba to oust the Marxist dictator
D)sanctions imposed on Russia to keep it out of Crimea

Question 29

Which of the following is most consistent with the foreign policy of isolationism?

A)a country's refusal to intervene in an armed conflict between two other countries
B)a country's willingness to use diplomatic sanctions to pressure another country to address human rights violations
C)the George W.Bush administration's policy of actively rooting out terrorism before a threat has fully developed
D)multilateral trade agreements

Question 30

Which of the following is an example of foreign aid?

A)the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
B)the International Monetary Fund
C)the North American Free Trade Agreement
D)the Marshall Plan

Question 31

Which of the following accurately describes the United Nations?

A)The UN is an international organization formed immediately after World War I in an effort to avoid another world war and consistently renounces war and respects human and economic freedoms.
B)The UN was created in 1945 as an international peacekeeping organization and has not always been capable of making and keeping peace.
C)The UN was formed in the late 1930s as an international peacekeeping organization and has remained isolationist from the start.
D)The UN is composed of fewer than 100 member nations and focuses exclusively on peacekeeping operations.

Question 32

Which of the following is a responsibility of the State Department?

A)command of the military
B)space exploration
C)protecting the president
D)diplomacy

Question 33

Which of the following best describes the world's superpowers since the end of World War II?

A)The United States has been the sole superpower since the end of World War II.
B)The United States and the Soviet Union were rival superpowers until the end of the Cold War,when the United States became the sole superpower.
C)The United States and the Soviet Union were rival superpowers until the Cuban Missile Crisis,when the United States and Russia became rival superpowers.
D)The United States and the Soviet Union were the only two rival superpowers until the end of the Cold War,when China also became a rival superpower.

Question 34

What can Congress do to influence foreign policy if it is not satisfied with the way the president has handled foreign policy?

A)Congress can fire ambassadors who are not executing foreign policy according to Congress's wishes.
B)Congress can reduce appropriations for executing the president's foreign policy.
C)Congress can command the military to execute foreign policy according to Congress's wishes.
D)Congress can replace the secretary of state with someone who will implement foreign policy according to Congress's wishes.

Question 35

Which of the following engages in a global surveillance operation that was unmasked by Edward Snowden in 2013?

A)the Department of Defense
B)the secretary of state
C)the Central Intelligence Agency
D)the National Security Agency

Question 36

Which of the following could result from a balance-of-trade deficit?

A)The value of the dollar increases,so Americans can buy more goods from other countries for the same amount of money.
B)The value of the dollar declines,so Americans have to pay more for goods from other nations.
C)The value of the dollar increases,making American products cheaper abroad,thereby increasing our exports.
D)The value of the dollar declines,which makes American products more expensive abroad,thereby decreasing our exports.

Question 37

What is the main foreign or defense policy threat posed by Iran?

A)civil unrest
B)nuclear capabilities
C)economic collapse
D)trade disagreements

Question 38

Which of the following was a fundamental part of the justification for the 2003 war in Iraq?

A)Iraq attacked Israel in 2002 with SCUD missiles and was threatening to do so again.
B)Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
C)Saddam Hussein had provided considerable funding to Osama bin Laden.
D)Saddam Hussein had permitted Osama bin Laden to use Iraq for training terrorists.

Question 39

Which of the following is an advantage of using soft power to achieve foreign policy objectives?

A)Soft power takes full advantage of U.S.military prowess.
B)Soft power is particularly adept at dealing with rogue nations.
C)Resolutions reached through the use of soft power are more durable.
D)Soft power does not rely on military coercion to accomplish foreign policy goals.

Question 40

Which of the following best describes the conflict that has sometimes existed between the National Security Council (NSC) and others within the national security establishment?

A)Because the NCS always integrates advice from other cabinet departments,most advisers in national security see the council as having little independent value.
B)The NSC has sometimes conspired with the State and Defense departments in covert operations,such as the Iran-Contra affair.
C)Because the NCS was created after September 11,2001,many in the departments of State and Defense do not respect the limited experience of this newcomer.
D)The NSC has sometimes competed with,rather than integrated advice from,cabinet departments such as State and Defense,and it also has become involved in covert operations such as the Iran-Contra affair.

Question 41

During the height of the Cold War,what would the United States likely have done if it had discovered that the Soviet Union had previously unknown stockpiles of nuclear weapons?

A)negotiate a bilateral nuclear nonproliferation agreement
B)engage in a military conflict with the Soviet Union
C)stockpile additional nuclear weapons in the United States
D)extend diplomatic immunity to the Soviet Union

Question 42

Why has the United States tried to deal with the threat from Iran with diplomacy,rather than military options?

A)Diplomacy is likely to succeed since the Islamic world trusts and respects the United States.
B)Diplomacy is likely to lead Iran to isolationism,thereby removing the threat.
C)Military action would be more likely to lead to further radicalization of Muslims and terrorist retaliation.
D)Military action would be less likely to succeed,and could harm the cooperative approach taken by Iran toward the United States and its allies.

Question 43

Which of the following statements about terrorism is accurate?

A)Terrorism usually involves military personnel and military targets.
B)Terrorism is often designed to demoralize and frighten the general public.
C)Terrorism is usually financed by the government.
D)Only nongovernmental political actors engage in terrorism.

Question 44

Why have multinational corporations become forces to be reckoned with in nearly all nations?

A)They frequently use their money to buy government officials' votes in nearly any country at nearly any time.
B)They better understand the dangers of globalization than do most elected officials.
C)They encourage isolationist policies in order to get complete control of governments and markets in various countries.
D)They account for a large portion of the global economy and have voiced strong opinions about government and economics.

Question 45

In 2004,Congress created a director of national intelligence.Why did Congress do this?

A)to help the director of the Central Intelligence Agency combat the growing threat posed by weapons of mass destruction
B)to better coordinate the large number of people working in diverse intelligence agencies
C)to decentralize authority within the intelligence community to prevent competition between agencies
D)because the previous organizational structure of the intelligence community encouraged the various agencies to do too much of their work collaboratively,which led to groupthink

Question 46

How did the Cold War get started?

A)It began after World War II when there was a shortage of coal and heating fuel in Europe.
B)It started when the United States established the Truman Doctrine at the end of World War II,which left Eastern European countries "in the cold" by declaring that they would have to defend themselves without U.S.help.
C)It began after all of Eastern Europe fell under Soviet domination at the end of World War II,which prompted fears that the Soviets would spread communism around the globe.
D)It started when the Truman Doctrine froze all military alliances into their pre-World War II configurations.

Question 47

Which of the following is most likely to have the greatest influence over U.S.foreign policy?

A)secretary of state
B)director of the Central Intelligence Agency
C)chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
D)director of national intelligence

Question 48

Which of the following is an accurate statement about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)?

A)The CIA is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution as being exempt from federal law as long as it is acting in the name of national security.
B)The CIA is in charge of the various other agencies in the intelligence community.
C)The CIA has sometimes become involved in other nations' internal affairs.
D)The primary mission of the CIA is to gather intelligence on American citizens.

Question 49

How has U.S.foreign policy regarding Iran and North Korea been similar for much of the past decade?

A)It has been largely focused on economic development.
B)It has been largely driven by the September 11,2001,terrorist attacks.
C)It has been largely determined by the wealth of natural resources the countries possess.
D)It has been largely driven by concerns over nuclear weapons.

Question 50

With which of the following is the president most likely to consult for advice about how to best take advantage of the strengths of the various service branches when conducting a military operation?

A)the Central Intelligence Agency
B)the director of national intelligence
C)the secretary of homeland security
D)the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Question 51

Why did the United States join the North American Free Trade Agreement?

A)to lower trade barriers
B)to relocate manufacturing jobs to Mexico to take advantage of cheaper labor
C)to slow down the pace of globalization
D)to make it harder for Japanese cars to compete in the American marketplace