Deck 6: Can the United States Lead the World

Question 1

Many traditional allies are now unwilling to follow U.S. leadership.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

U. S. foreign policy has been alternating between interventionism and noninterventionism at roughly generational intervals.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

American public support for the Korean, Vietnamese, and Iraq Wars declined within three years.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Traditionally, the educated elites support intervention less than the masses and are the first to criticize wars.

Question 5

Oftentimes, the Pentagon chiefs are the biggest proponents of noninterventionism in an administration.

Question 6

There was a declaration of war before invading Afghanistan but not Iraq.

Question 7

One of the problems of U. S. foreign policy is that various departments and agencies work at cross-purposes without coordination or communication.

Question 8

The structural organization of the CIA greatly contributed to letting the 9/11 attacks happen.

Question 9

The United States has traditionally pursued a multilateral foreign policy.

Question 10

Evidence from the Vietnam War suggests that bureaucrats misled presidents.

Question 11

What is interventionism?

A) the way government deals with outside world
B) government's willingness to help other countries economically
C) formulation of various policies regarding neighboring countries
D) government's willingness to use military force overseas
E) government's willingness to sell armaments to another country

Question 12

An example of the continuity principle is ________.

A)President Obama's further isolation of Iran
B) President Obama's increased troop withdrawal from Iraq
C) President Obama's maintenance of a withdrawal timeline for Afghanistan
D) President Bush's isolation of North Korea
E) President Clinton's increase in defense spending

Question 13

The War Powers Act ________.

A) limits the influence Congress can have in going to war
B) limits the time a President can use troops in hostile situations to 90 days without congressional approval
C) strengthened the power of the president relative to congress
D) has not been easily circumvented
E) limits the time a President can use troops in hostile situations to six months without congressional approval

Question 14

How might the War Powers Act be circumvented?

A) by sending troops for only 2 months
B) by declaring troops are in a foreign country for the purposes of direct intervention
C) by declaring troops are in a foreign country for peacekeeping
D) by declaring the country that troops are in as a hostile environment and a threat to national security
E) by not letting Congress know about sending troops to a foreign country

Question 15

Incoherent foreign policies are natural in democracies because ________.

A)leaders are held accountable through ever-changing public opinion
B) of overly complex campaign slogans and policies
C) of a hierarchical foreign affairs community
D) the same foreign service officers serve as foreign policy advisors
E) they are limited in what they can do by the constitutional division of powers

Question 16

What was the structural problem that became clear after the 9/11 attacks?

A) overdependence on technology
B) lazy and arrogant bureaucracy
C) lack of communication between the President and Congress
D) lack of communication among various bureaus and departments
E) inadequate technology

Question 17

President Obama has turned away from a ________ foreign policy and is attempting to build a ________ foreign policy.

A) multilateral; unilateral
B) unilateral; multilateral
C) unilateral; isolationist
D) multilateral; isolationist
E) unilateral; interdependent

Question 18

What is a significant constraint that U.S. leaders face when formulating foreign policy?

A) constant lack of popular support
B) budget deficits
C) an underactive Congress
D) a too-small military
E) being impeached for breaking a campaign promise

Question 19

An idealist foreign policymaker would choose to intervene in another country ________.

A) to acquire valuable natural resources
B) preventatively to protect themselves from future attack by that country
C) to stop mass killing
D) because popular opinion is behind it
E) because they think it will be beneficial to their interests in the future

Question 20

The ________ Doctrine focused on containment of communism, presumably everywhere.

A) Eisenhower
B) Kennedy
C) Truman
D) Reagan
E) Nixon

Question 21

The ________ Doctrine called for nuclear weapons and CIA efforts to prevent Communist or other radical takeovers.

A) Truman
B) Kennedy
C) Johnson
D) Eisenhower
E) Ford

Question 22

The ________ Doctrine aimed to overthrow pro-Soviet regimes by sponsoring subversive, anti-Communist guerrilla movements.

A)Reagan
B) Kennedy
C) Nixon
D) Ford
E) Carter

Question 23

The goal of the ________ Doctrine was to defeat communism indirectly by supplying weapons but not troops to countries that were trying to resist communist takeover.

A) Reagan
B) Truman
C) Nixon
D) Kennedy
E) Carter

Question 24

The head of the National Security Council (NSC) is ________.

A) appointed by the president and accountable to Congress
B) appointed by the president and confirmed by Congress
C) appointed by the president and not accountable to Congress
D) appointed by Congress and accountable to Congress
E) relied on for foreign policy advice far less than the secretary of state

Question 25

What event or events did political scientist Graham Allison use to support the bureaucratic politics model of foreign policy?

A) the Vietnam War in general
B) the behavior of bureaucrats on the ground in executing orders during the Vietnam War
C) the Cuban Missile Crisis
D) the 9/11 attacks
E) the Cuban Missile Crisis and the 9/11 attacks

Question 26

What was America's first attempt at a multilateral foreign policy?

A) the formation of NATO
B) WWII
C) WWI
D) the formation of the UN
E) the formation of the League of Nations

Question 27

What type of foreign policy is viewed as a potential infringement on U.S. sovereignty?

A) isolationist
B) interventionist
C) unilateral
D) multilateral
E) noninterventionist

Question 28

Which type of foreign policy has turned much of the world against the U.S., particularly in recent years?

A) isolationist
B) proactive
C) interventionist
D) multilateral
E) unilateral

Question 29

Evaluate the authors' contention that the U.S. is not able to "lead the world." Do you agree with their four arguments as to why this is so? Discuss and provide evidence relating to each argument as well as the overall conclusions.

Question 30

Discuss the tendency of U.S. foreign policy to alter between interventionist and noninterventionist. What events have led the U.S. to pursue each of these types of foreign policies? Do you think the U.S. is unique in this regard or not? Explain and provide examples.

Question 31

What role does a "rally event" play in American foreign policy? Specifically, how does it influence public opinion, in what type of issues does it alter public opinion, and is such a change in public opinion permanent? Use examples in your answer.

Question 32

How does idealism and self-interest produce different foreign policies? What types of foreign policies are associated with each? Must these two positions always generate different foreign policies? And is one (idealism or self-interest) always superior to the other?

Question 33

Have the war powers employed by American presidents been what the Founders intended? Consider the powers allocated to the Executive and to Congress in your answer. Reference the actions of at least three American presidents to support your conclusions.

Question 34

Discuss the structural problems associated with organizations involved in the making and implementation of foreign policy (like the CIA, FBI, and ICE). How did these problems contribute to the 9/11 attacks? Structurally, was there any way to avoid this failure? Is there a way to avoid such failures in the future?