Deck 25: Americas Troubled Moment in the Middle East

Question 1

Which of the following was NOT a pillar of US cold war policy toward the Middle East in the twentieth century?

A) Ensuring the security and prosperity of Israel
B) Containing Soviet ambitions
C) Promoting Arab democratic governments
D) Securing access to the petroleum resources of the oil-producing states

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The US policy to isolate both Iraq and Iran through tough economic sanctions against the former and more modest restrictions against the latter was called _________________.

A) economic intervention
B) economic servitude
C) regional containment
D) dual containment

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following statements is NOT true of al-Qa'ida?

A) Its base was located in Afghanistan
B) At the time of the 9/11 attacks, al Qa'ida was headed by Ayman al Zawahiri
C) It was a stateless international terrorist network
D) Osama bin Laden was the wealthy Saudi who financed al- Qa'ida's operations

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following was a grievance bin Laden held against the United States?

A) the US position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
B) US economic sanctions in Iraq
C) the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia
D) All of these answers are correct

Question 5

Which of the following was NOT one of the Bush administration's stated justifications for a preemptive military strike against Iraq?

A) Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction
B) Regime change would benefit the Iraqi people themselves
C) Iraq had taken hundreds of American hostages during the Gulf War
D) Iraq's possession of one of the world's largest oil reserves

Question 6

Which two of Washington's traditional NATO allies refused to accept the notion that Saddam Husayn represented an immediate threat to world peace and should be overthrown by force?

A) France and the United Kingdom
B) Germany and France
C) The United Kingdom and Canada
D) Poland and France

Question 7

Which body wrote the new constitution for Iraq in 2005?

A) United Nations
B) United States
C) Iraqi transitional assembly
D) Coalition Provisional Authority

Question 8

The US "created" its own enemies in Iraq. From which section of the Iraqi population did these insurgents emerge?

A) Iraqis angered at the presence of foreign troops on Iraqi soil
B) Iraqis who resented the occupying forces for not providing jobs and security to Iraq
C) Former Ba'thists purged from the Iraqi administration and disbanded Iraqi soldiers
D) All of these answers are correct

Question 9

The push to improve security efforts in Baghdad so as to provide the space necessary to break parliamentary deadlocks and forge a common national project was the aim of what military action in 2007?

A) Shock and Awe
B) The "surge" in the number of US troops deployed to Iraq
C) The forced relocation of the minority Sunni population
D) The Battle of Fallujah

Question 10

What almost derailed President Obama's policy of engagement with Iran?

A) President Obama's unwavering support for the Green Movement
B) President Ahmadinejad's comments about "wiping Israel off the map"
C) Iran sold weaponry and other materials to aid in North Korea's missile testing
D) The revelation in 2009 that Iran was secretly building a second uranium-enrichment plant

Question 11

The George W. Bush Administration's attempt at democratization in Iraq was described by Condoleeza Rice as a necessary turn away from the past sixty years of American policy in the region that had "_____________ at the expense of democracy"

A) pursued stability
B) propped up Islamist regimes
C) propped up secular regimes
D) propped up weak states

Question 12

The Taliban was ______________.

A) a rival organization to al-Qa‛ida, based in Afghanistan
B) the de facto government of Afghanistan from 1996 to the early 2000s, where it gave shelter to al-Qa‛ida
C) Bin Laden's native country
D) home to many of the hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks in New York City

Question 13

Which of the following accurately defines the Sahwa (Awakening) in 2007?

A) It was part of the Bush administration's "surge" of US troops in Iraq
B) It was comprised of Sunni tribal elders who were disgusted by al-Qa‛ida's rising presence in the country and thus agreed to aid the US in fighting al-Qa‛ida in Iraq
C) It was disbanded as soon as the Americans left
D) All of these accurately define the Awakening in 2007

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT true regarding Iraqi Kurdistan post-2003 invasion?

A) The Kurdish regional government based in Arbil carved out a zone of economic prosperity and relative political stability
B) The production and marketing of oil was the main source of tension with the Shi‛a-led government in Baghdad
C) Historic political rivalry between the Talabani and Barzani families worked itself out through their sharing of oil revenues
D) Kurds were among the most hostile forces to the US presence

Question 15

Which of the following is true of US efforts to combat ISIS?

A) President Obama declared in September 2014 that he would "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS
B) Overall effectiveness of US airstrikes is inconclusive, but they have disrupted oil sales fueling ISIS
C) It is unclear whether the bombardment is actually compounding the very misery and sense of victimhood that allowed ISIS to take root in the first place
D) All of these are true regarding US efforts to combat ISIS

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT true of US policies regarding sectarian divisions in Iraq?

A) The US sought first and foremost to abolish sectarian identities and reconstruct a new unified Iraqi identity
B) The US's policies overturned the sectarian dynamics of government in Baghdad that had been in existence since the time of the Ottoman Empire and further facilitated under the British
C) The US's disempowering of anyone associated with Saddam Husayn's Ba‛th party had dire sectarian ramifications
D) Al-Qa‛ida in Iraq (AQI) fed off of the marginalization of Sunnis in Iraq

Question 17

Which of the following was NOT opposed to the US-Iran nuclear deal?

A) Saudi Arabia and Israel
B) Conservatives in the US Congress
C) Conservatives in Iran
D) Iran's Green Movement

Question 18

Which of the following was included in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)?

A) Removal of all travel restrictions between the Iran and the US
B) Removal of Iran from the US's list of state sponsors of terrorism
C) Allowance for Iran to create a limited number of weak nuclear missiles in exchange for economic sanctions relief
D) Elimination of Iran's two pathways for creating a nuclear weapon

Question 19

In the context of Iran, the term "break-out" capability refers to

A) a terrorist organization's ability to begin functioning like a state
B) a terrorist's ability to utilize civilian technology to carry out acts of violent atrocities
C) the ability for a country to cease its economic dependency on oil
D) the ability for a country to set in place the means to rapidly construct a nuclear weapon

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT true of Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East?

A) Obama's diplomatic approach to the Middle East has in many ways been in stark contrast to his predecessor, George W. Bush
B) Obama has been the fourth successive US president to bomb Iraq
C) Obama's heralding of the groundbreaking nuclear deal with Iran has been coupled with a seeming return to policies of containment
D) All of these are true of Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East

Question 21

One of the primary objectives of the Gulf War of 1991 was to maintain and control access to Middle Eastern oil.

Question 22

In the September 11, 2001 attacks, all nineteen hijackers were citizens of one of two US allies: Saudi Arabia and Egypt

Question 23

Sunni Arabs are the largest minority group in Iraq, followed by Kurds.

Question 24

A "Status of Forces Agreement" was signed in late 2008 between Iraq and Iran.

Question 25

President Obama's first speech in the region took place in Cairo in 2009, and was widely lauded throughout the Middle East and North Africa as a sign of improving US relations with countries of the region.

Question 26

__________________ is a stateless international network seeking to establish an Islamic order.

Question 27

By early 2002, the Bush administration had shifted its focus from al-Qa'ida to __________________ as the most threatening source of anti-American terrorism.

Question 28

In May 2006, a new government emerged in Iraq under prime minister __________________.

Question 29

America's occupation of Iraq, in eliminating Saddam Husayn and bringing the Shi'as to power, has been to the benefit of __________________.

Question 30

The basic parameters of post-cold war policy were set forth by____________ in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War of_________.

Question 31

What did al-Qa'ida leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri hope to achieve with the 9/11 attacks?

Question 32

How was US unilateralism against Iraq received by the United States' international partners?

Question 33

What became of the primary justification for the invasion of Iraq-Iraq's supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction?

Question 34

What did observers claim was "ironic" about US foreign policy in the early 2000s, particularly in relation to Iraq and Iran?

Question 35

What factors threaten the stability of the area in northern Iraq shared by Iraqi Arabs and a large concentration of Kurds?

Question 36

How was the 2003 invasion of Iraq viewed by most Iraqis?

Question 37

Briefly explain the origins of ISIS.

Question 38

How does ISIS seem to differ from al-Qa'ida in tactics and structure?

Question 39

Briefly explain how armed conflict between the US/Britain and Iraq in 1998 helped facilitate the George W. Bush administration's manipulation of intelligence in 2003.

Question 40

Briefly explain how heightened mistrust between the US and regional allies in light of the JCPOA deal has affected US foreign policy in the Arab world?

Question 41

In the beginning of this chapter, it is noted that many in the region viewed Hizbullah and Hamas as local resistance movements with legitimate grievances in their home territories of Lebanon and Palestine, respectively. This, in contrast to international terrorist networks like al-Qa‛ida. But the George. W. Bush administration nonetheless emphasized their sameness through the single prism of the US's "War on Terrorism.:" Using examples from the text to support your answer, explain why you agree or disagree with lumping Hamas and/or Hizbullah into the same categorization of terrorism as the international groups al-Qa‛ida and ISIS.

Question 42

Compare the US's post-cold war policies and actions in the Middle East with those of post-WWI Britain and France.