Deck 14: Foreign Policy

Question 1

In American foreign policy, international humanitarian policy is typically considered:

A) the top security priority.
B) important only when the United States is compelled to engage in humanitarian missions under international law.
C) secondary in importance relative to economic and security policies.
D) more important than security policy but less important than economic policy.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The most important international organization for promoting free trade is the ______________________.

A) World Trade Organization
B) European Union
C) North Atlantic Treaty Organization
D) United Nations

Answer 2

A

Question 3

After the end of the World War II, American diplomat George Kennan, who had been staffed in Moscow, attempted to alert officials to what he saw as increasing threats to U.S.interests posed by the Soviet Union.He suggested that the United States would need to undertake long-term countermeasures against the threat in order to limit Soviet attempts at expansion.Kennan's prescription came to be called _____________ policy.

A) preemption
B) preventative war
C) containment
D) deterring engagement

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Even when presidents and other top American public officials have made it a point to vocally promote human rights and democracy worldwide, the United States has still repeatedly overlooked violations by some authoritarian and autocratic regimes, such as Saudi Arabia, that show little regard for human rights because:

A) those countries usually "have dirt," or unflattering information, on Americans that would undercut its leaders' vocal commitment to human rights if made public.
B) international treaties and agreement prohibit presidents and other federal officials from overtly criticizing certain allies and trading partners.
C) while human rights promotion is the top priority of the U.S.government, sometimes protecting environmental interests is paramount.
D) those countries are either important allies or trading partners, or both, and protecting security and economic interests are the top priority of American foreign policy.

Question 5

Why, in the twentieth century, did isolationist foreign policy stances become less tenable or realistic in the United States?

A) Because the country's elites wanted to engage with the world and would not tolerate dissent
B) Solely due to the increased importance of foreign trade to the American economy
C) Because technological progress left the country less isolated from foreign threats, while global economic interdependence increased
D) Because technological progress left the country less isolated from foreign threats, while the federal government allowed foreign countries to hold its debt

Question 6

A group other than a nation-state that attempts to play a role in the international system is called _____________.

A) a non-state actor
B) an interest group
C) a nongovernmental organization
D) irrelevant

Question 7

Although the United States and the former Soviet Union had been allies during World War II, by the late 1940s they became engaged in a struggle that saw both build up their militaries, develop the ability to destroy each other completely through nuclear weapons, and fund and fight with opposing sides in conflicts worldwide.It became known as the "Cold War," however, because:

A) the two countries never directly engaged in all-out war with each other, with the full force of their militaries.
B) leaders of the countries, despite coming to the brink of war many times, refused to engage with each other in diplomatic talks.
C) the United States and the Soviet Union technically remained allies, despite their evident hostility to each other.
D) the two countries never formally declared war on each other.

Question 8

Until the twentieth century and World War II at least, American national security was mostly based on:

A) its formidable naval power.
B) the country's geographic isolation.
C) the Monroe Doctrine.
D) the idea of Manifest Destiny.

Question 9

The term foreign policy refers to programs and policies that:

A) mainly deal with overseas military affairs.
B) involve foreign countries or trade, even if it's in a marginal or minimal way.
C) determine a country's relations with other countries and foreign entities.
D) only involve national security.

Question 10

The fact that American presidents have often, since World War II, committed the United States to overseas military missions and conflicts with little to no consultation with Congress is at odds with the intentions of the Constitution's framers because they:

A) clearly wanted presidents to put more of an emphasis on diplomacy.
B) would have wanted Congress to demand that the president emphasize the need for more humanitarian missions and international aid efforts.
C) would have wanted Congress and military generals to have more control over international relations, instead.
D) gave Congress the power to declare war, and made the president the commander-in-chief only when Congress chose to exercise that power.

Question 11

Groups that international relations specialists call "nongovernmental organizations" (NGOs) have had enormous influence worldwide in recent times, often in no small part due to their independence from any one country.Examples include the human rights advocacy organization Amnesty International and the international medical aid-focused Doctors without Borders.Although these groups are nonviolent, they have one thing in common with independent terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, which is that they are:

A) outlaw organizations, under many international agreements.
B) interest groups, of a sort.
C) underfunded nonprofits.
D) non-state actors.

Question 12

What does a foreign policy of deterrence against the threat posed by another country require?

A) Continuous diplomacy, combined with a willingness to compromise
B) Concealing the nation's willingness to fight
C) Developing and maintaining large military forces
D) Getting support for the appeasement strategy

Question 13

In 1998, President Clinton changed the status of countries that receive the most favorable tariff rate from the United States from "most-favored-nation" (MFN) to "normal trade relations" (NTR) because:

A) the United States then had ongoing major disputes with many of the countries with MFN status.
B) he thought that "most-favored-nation" could imply a special relationship with a nondemocratic country, such as China, that had MFN status.
C) the United States was then planning to grant a newly reworked MFN status, with better economic benefits attached to certain preferred nations, but it later gave up on the idea.
D) Clinton thought the United States needed to seem more even-handed, given the enormous influence it has in global economic affairs.

Question 14

Early in the twentieth century, the United States entered World War I on the side of Great Britain and France when the Wilson administration concluded that:

A) representative democracy in the Western world would die if Germany won.
B) Germany was likely to strike the United States soon anyway, whether through direct attack or terrorism.
C) a German victory would adversely affect America's economic and security interests.
D) the country needed to end its isolationism, and would best do so by working with democratic allies.

Question 15

Although its role in foreign policy is not as important as it was for much of American history, the Senate still plays an important constitutional role in this area through:

A) the congressional right to declare war.
B) the fiscal appropriations process.
C) the responsibility to receive ambassadors and recognize nations.
D) reviewing and approving treaties made by the president.

Question 16

In the late 1930s, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain tried to keep his country out of another costly war with Germany through an initially popular but ultimately failed policy of _______________ , one that included signing an agreement that allowed German dictator Adolph Hitler to keep territory gained through military aggression.

A) isolationism
B) containment
C) appeasement
D) deterrence

Question 17

In what has become known as his "farewell address," President George Washington laid one of the cornerstones of American foreign policy _______________ , a security stance it would maintain for decades to come, when he warned the nation to "steer clear of permanent alliances" and have little political connection to foreign countries?

A) nationalism
B) realism
C) isolationism
D) protectionism

Question 18

Terrorist groups-including Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, usually referred to as ISIS or ISIL-that undertake operations without any government ties or sponsorship are examples of the hostile brand of ____________.

A) independent paramilitary groups
B) interest groups
C) non-state actors
D) international nonprofit organizations

Question 19

A nation pursuing a policy of _________________ signals peaceful intentions, but also indicates a willingness and ability to use a strong military if attacked.

A) seeking bilateral agreements
B) deterrence
C) containment
D) politics by other means

Question 20

In 2003, when the United States launched an attack on Iraq on the grounds that the country was warehousing weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons banned under international law, it opted for a policy of _________________ against any threat to American interests that was posed by Iraq and its autocratic leader, Saddam Hussein.

A) preemption, or preventative war,
B) appeasement
C) containment
D) isolationism

Question 21

To resolve disputes with other countries in an impartial fashion, the United States occasionally turns to _________________, rather than military action, economic sanctions, or other means of coercion.This is true for most trade disputes, and when the United States sought to resolve a long-standing dispute with Italy over American property confiscated by the Italian government more than 40 years earlier.

A) dispute arbitration administered by neutral third parties
B) polite discussions and debates carried out through social media
C) international summits
D) bilateral talks held in neutral locations

Question 22

After World War II, sparked by economic talks held by the United States and its allies (excluding the Soviet Union) in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, toward the war's end, a number of countries laid the groundwork for a trade agreement that evolved, decades later, into the World Trade Organization.What brought the countries together to do this was:

A) a threat of unilateral economic sanctions by the militarily powerful United States.
B) a fear that some countries essential to battling the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) were in danger of economic collapse.
C) pressure from powerful banks, industries, and wealthy individuals in the United States to expand global trade.
D) the fear of a repeat of economic devastation that followed World War I, and the belief of many that 1930s-era economic turmoil had helped cause World War II.

Question 23

What provoked the first invocation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Article 5, which provides that an attack on one member country is an attack on all of them?

A) The Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary in 1956
B) The Warsaw Pact's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968
C) Al Qaeda's terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001
D) President Trump's war of words with some NATO leaders at a 2018 economic summit

Question 24

If the president or a duly appointed executive branch official (e.g., the Secretary of State) meets with dignitaries of a foreign government with the purpose of promoting national values or interests by peaceful means, he or she can be said to be engaging in:

A) diplomacy.
B) containment.
C) a delaying of inevitable hostilities.
D) executive agreement or treaty-making duties.

Question 25

The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), a replacement for an older nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation that was signed by President Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and ratified by the Senate in 2011 after a 71-26 vote in its favor, was a classic example of:

A) an executive-congressional agreement, which must be approved by a majority vote of the House and Senate, rather than a two-thirds "supermajority" vote in only the Senate.
B) a multilateral agreement-that is, a treaty between more than two countries.
C) a bilateral treaty-that is, treaties between two countries.
D) the Senate exercising more power in foreign affairs than the president.

Question 26

The United Nations' power lies mainly in its Security Council, which has the authority to make decisions that member states are obligated to implement.It rarely takes strong international action, however, because:

A) it has no political parties to provide priorities and discipline.
B) its decisions can be vetoed by the UN General Assembly, the organization's supreme body.
C) any one of its five permanent members-China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States-can veto any substantial proposal.
D) its annual session runs only from September to December.

Question 27

An example of an economic interest that has successfully influenced foreign policy, through its stress on intellectual property rights, is the ___________ industry.

A) cable television
B) computer hardware and software
C) oil and gas
D) automotive

Question 28

Presidents tend to distrust career diplomats because:

A) presidents cannot be certain of a diplomat's political leanings and partisan identification.
B) most recent presidents have lacked trust in bureaucratic expertise in any field.
C) they typically do not know the language and culture that the diplomats are meant to serve.
D) under the modern presidential system, more personal responsibility has been heaped on the presidency in international affairs.

Question 29

What is the most visible instrument of foreign policy that any country has?

A) Military force
B) Sanctions
C) Presidential rhetoric
D) Social media communications from the president and foreign policy staff

Question 30

On broad, long-term foreign policy issues, such as American participation in the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, larger business and industry groups find it difficult to get their members to speak with a single voice because:

A) they find it difficult, as is the case in domestic policy lobbying, to overcome the free-rider problem.
B) their members tend to pay more attention to domestic than foreign news, like most other Americans.
C) the complexity of most foreign policy issues overwhelms many members.
D) members may have many varying, and sometimes conflicting, economic interests that lead them to see policies in diverse ways.

Question 31

Although diplomacy is a powerful tool of foreign policy, by its very nature it takes patience and is overshadowed by:

A) the glitz and glamour of White House state dinners and short international summits, which are ready-made for television and media coverage.
B) drama of the sort regularly breaking out between feuding nations at the UN General Assembly, the organization's supreme body.
C) the modern, reality show-like orientation of White House communications and event staging, as well as of subsequent press coverage.
D) spectacular international events and dramatic initiatives.

Question 32

What is the supreme body of the United Nations (UN)?

A) UN General Assembly
B) UN Charter Group
C) UN Peacekeeping Taskforce
D) UN Security Council

Question 33

Although the International Monetary Fund has billions of dollars, collected from all its members, with which to make loans to developing or economically unstable countries, it generally does so in ways that are consistent with the interests of __________.

A) the United States alone, since it dominates the IMF
B) the European Union, given the dire economic problems in Greece and Italy in recent years
C) the world's largest banks, among them ones in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region
D) its leading shareholders, including the United States, Europe, and Japan

Question 34

Which of the following is an organization founded in 1945 and created with the goal of increasing and maintaining international order, as well as providing a channel for international cooperation?

A) The League of Nations
B) The United Nations
C) The International Monetary Fund
D) The World Trade Organization

Question 35

Which international institution, created toward the end of World War II by the United States and its allies (excluding the Soviet Union), provides development aid to poor countries through the financing of long-term projects?

A) The World Bank
B) The World Finance Institute
C) The International Monetary Fund
D) The World Trade Organization

Question 36

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), established in 1944 by the United States and its allies in World War II (excluding the Soviet Union), was created to help needy or developing nations by:

A) providing them with short-term flows of money that allow them to make needed purchases and investments.
B) forcing them to adopt more free market-friendly policies, through economic incentives or force.
C) financing their long-term projects through development aid.
D) allowing rich nations to impose their own views and trade interests on poor nations,

Question 37

When the United States goes it alone in imposing economic sanctions against a foreign country in the hopes of stopping the target from engaging in behavior that it sees as threatening to American interests, it is:

A) likely to be successful in meeting its goal, given the strength of the U.S.economy and its military.
B) likely to find itself targeted for economic sanctions by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
C) unlikely to fully meet its goal since the target can usually trade elsewhere.
D) unlikely to fully meet its goal unless the target is a major oil producer.

Question 38

Which of the following is an example of an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to an American foreign policy problem?

A) The United States giving into European Union suggestions to allow more Syrian refugees into the country, after getting European countries to foot more of their own defense costs.
B) President Trump engaging in talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un after months of a heated war of words between the two over the latter's nuclear missile development.
C) Covert operations by American intelligence agencies to disable continued North Korean missile development.
D) The sending of American medical aid, food relief, and rescue teams to Caribbean countries after a series of strong hurricanes hit the region.

Question 39

Presidents have, in recent decades, reduced the importance of the Senate in foreign policy through the use of:

A) advisement by the National Security Council, an executive branch unit that includes its major foreign policy players.
B) executive agreements that can, without Senate approval, create a politically binding understanding between the United States and another country.
C) executive orders that can create temporary understandings between the United States and another country, allowing for more efficiency and flexibility in diplomacy.
D) executive orders that allow presidents to easily take funds away from one area of the federal budget and dedicate those funds to urgent foreign policy needs.

Question 40

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has come under fire by critics since the 1990s for its requiring "structural adjustment" in efforts to reform the finances of large debtor nations and formerly communist countries because this policy:

A) has mainly been used by the United States as a way of helping needy allies in antiterrorist efforts.
B) is completely at odds with the intentions of the IMF's founders.
C) generally forces the countries to adopt the more market-oriented trade policies and views favored by the wealthiest countries.
D) has generally been used as another form of economic sanctions against countries with which the United States has disagreements.

Question 41

The United States supports several international efforts to protect the environment.

Question 42

Foreign policy-especially security policy-is traditionally an area in which American leaders pay especially close attention to public opinion.

Question 43

The Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have historically worked very well together to coordinate American foreign policy in the direction of a single, unified strategy.

Question 44

Until the early twentieth century, the United States rejected the idea of isolationism.

Question 45

In the post-Cold War era, non-state actors have generally been deterred from action against the United States by the same means that deter nation-state actors.

Question 46

The United States makes humanitarian considerations its first priority when setting foreign policy.

Question 47

In 2018, President Trump passed a series of taxes on imports of agricultural, industrial, and consumer goods coming into the U.S.market from China as well as from allies, including the European Union, Canada, and Mexico.His actions marked a dramatic turn in U.S.trade policy because:

A) the country had signed, and the Senate had approved, many trade-oriented treaties with the countries Trump targeted.
B) the United States had, for half a century, led the world in advocacy of the lowering of trade barriers, including tariffs, in order to encourage free trade.
C) American companies had, for decades, preferred receiving subsidies over tariffs as a means of protection from trade pressures, before lobbying Trump for tariffs.
D) the United States had granted all of these countries "most-favored-nation" status, except for China, giving their exports preferential tariff rates.

Question 48

Executive agreements have the force of treaties and thus require prior approval by the Senate.

Question 49

The United States generally avoids making foreign policy on the basis of economic considerations.

Question 50

The United States and Canada left Mexico largely out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Question 51

The United States-Korea Trade Agreement, a trade agreement signed by U.S.President George W.Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in 2007, won congressional approval in 2011 after being given an okay by majorities in the House and Senate.This made it a classic example of:

A) a multilateral agreement-that is, a treaty between more than two countries.
B) the House encroaching on the Senate's power by demanding a say in treaty approval.
C) a bilateral treaty-that is, treaties between two countries.
D) an executive-congressional agreement, which must be approved by a majority vote of the House and Senate, rather than a two-thirds "supermajority" vote in just the Senate.

Question 52

The World Trade Organization prohibits bilateral and regional trade agreements.

Question 53

In 1823, President James Monroe warned foreign powers not to meddle in the Western Hemisphere, a stance that came to be known as the "Monroe Doctrine."

Question 54

In 2017, President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for the United States to join the international Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Question 55

The United States has a long-standing commitment to human rights and is a party to most major international agreements concerning human rights.

Question 56

The representation of a government to other foreign governments is called diplomacy.

Question 57

The United States has repeatedly refused the request of human rights activists for it to help foot the medical and legal expenses of people who faced retaliation for battling state repression in their home countries.

Question 58

The Bush doctrine asserted that the United States would no longer attack other nations unless the United States was attacked first.

Question 59

Until World War II and the passing of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, the United States had not managed to put together a fully professional diplomatic corps, despite creating a framework for it some years earlier.

Question 60

For years, the two largest recipients of U.S.military assistance have been Israel and Egypt, American allies that fought two wars against each other.

Question 61

Although it has numerous political parties, the UN General Assembly is basically dominated by three major political coalitions.

Question 62

In recent years, cyberspace has become less of an American security concern, as the federal government has developed many ways of effectively thwarting the digital sabotage efforts of rogue state hackers.

Question 63

The United Nations has evolved into a major player on the world stage mostly because of its military standing.

Question 64

Groups consisting of people who strongly identify with their country of origin or descent can and do have significant influence in American foreign policy.

Question 65

In 2010 and 2015, the International Monetary Fund refused to intervene in the Greek debt crisis.

Question 66

The United States admitted fewer than 10,000 refugees of the Syrian Civil War into the country, in comparison to European nations, which took in more than a million such refugees.

Question 67

In 1998, President Bill Clinton created a new "normal trade relations" status for trade relationships with undemocratic countries, one that gave countries such as China fewer trade privileges than those of allies with "most-favored-nation" status.

Question 68

The outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis eventually led to a period of increased hostilities between the United States and the former Soviet Union, ones that were only cooled through arms reduction talks many years later.

Question 69

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was formed to provide for the short-term flow of money.

Question 70

Even after the U.S.military began a withdrawal of American forces from Iraq under Barack Obama, the actions of the Islamic State's (ISIS's) military led the president to send troops back to the country in 2014.

Question 71

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed to counter the perceived threat of the Soviet Union.

Question 72

The United Nations is so large and unwieldy that it is largely useless as a foreign policy tool.

Question 73

Many U.S.foreign policy efforts in the Middle East have been aimed at protecting American access to vital oil fields.

Question 74

Under President Obama, the United States and Cuba reestablished diplomatic relations that had been severed since 1961.President Trump, however, undid Obama's work by withdrawing U.S.diplomatic recognition of the country.

Question 75

When a special personal representative is sent abroad to represent the president, that envoy holds a status higher than that of the local ambassador.

Question 76

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has not expanded to include former Warsaw Pact countries.

Question 77

Most peacekeeping efforts in which the United States participates take place under the auspices of the United Nations.

Question 78

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the United States' national security was based on the power of its world-class naval forces, with the ability to launch ships from its East, West, and Southeast coasts.

Question 79

Until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Franklin D.Roosevelt had been unable to overcome arguments that the country needed to maintain an isolationist foreign policy stance, avoiding foreign conflicts.

Question 80

The most visible instrument of foreign policy is sanctions.