Deck 29: The Americas and the Pacific Basin: New Roles in the Contemporary World, Since 1945

Question 1

What are the primary demographic characteristics of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand?

A) They are highly urbanized.
B) They are not very wealthy.
C) The indigenous population is the majority.

Answer 1

They are not very wealthy.

Question 2

America emerged from World War II in what state?

A) As the leading industrial power
B) Interested in territorial expansion
C) Suffering from a postwar economic decline

Answer 2

As the leading industrial power

Question 3

In what way is contemporary New Zealand similar to contemporary Australia?

A) It also struggles with a low standard of living.
B) It also is wary to let foreign technology in.
C) It also feels the need to cultivate closer relations with China.

Answer 3

It also feels the need to cultivate closer relations with China.

Question 4

Who provided military and financial aid to volunteers fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s?

A) Soviet Union
B) United States
C) Britain

Question 5

For what did Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.'s movements advocate?

A) The end of slavery
B) The end of segregation and discrimination
C) African Americans' right to vote

Question 6

Which of the following questions has an increasing relevance for Australian politics?

A) Whether to align with Britain or the United States on foreign policy questions
B) Whether to align with China or the United States on economic policy questions
C) Whether to open or shut its borders to foreign technology

Question 7

Which country did the United States invade in 2001 to destroy Al Qaeda terrorist bases?

A) Pakistan
B) Afghanistan
C) Saudi Arabia

Question 8

What year did the U.S. Supreme Court declare segregated schools unconstitutional?

A) 1965
B) 1945
C) 1954

Question 9

Into which of the following genocidal conflicts did President Bill Clinton authorize the use of U.S. armed force?

A) Rwanda
B) Sierra Leone
C) Yugoslavia

Question 10

Most of the population of Nunavut, Canada, belongs to what ethnic group?

A) Haitian
B) Inuit
C) French descendants

Question 11

How large is Canada's population?

A) One-tenth as large as that of the United States
B) One-quarter as large as that of the United States
C) One-half as large as that of the United States

Question 12

Which of the following was NOT a policy followed by the United States in the years after World War II?

A) Helping rebuild Germany and Japan
B) Intervening against Communist takeover in China
C) Providing assistance to prop up European empires

Question 13

What is the best description of the Persian Gulf War?

A) A U.S.-led coalition defeated Iraqi forces and liberated occupied Kuwait.
B) A U.S. force invaded and occupied Iraq with little international support.
C) An Iraqi force occupied Kuwait and defended it against U.S. forces.

Question 14

During the 1980s, which group became significant politically, helping the Republican Party and conservatives dominate American politics?

A) Evangelical Christians
B) Trade Unions
C) African Americans

Question 15

Over 300,000 young people attended what New York music festival in 1969?

A) South by Southwest
B) Monterey Pop Festival
C) Woodstock

Question 16

Although the United States has about 4 percent of the world population, it consumes how much of the world's resources?

A) 15 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 33 percent

Question 17

Which of the following was a core policy plank of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign?

A) An expansion of social programs designed to support white working-class people
B) An effort to bypass partisan divides and govern in a cooperative, reasonable manner
C) A heavy crackdown on immigration from Latin America and Muslim-majority countries

Question 18

Which of the following best describes the break between Reagan-era conservatism and previous conservative platforms?

A) Reagan-era conservatives advocated for large military spending programs.
B) Reagan-era conservatives abandoned the longstanding consensus for funding social programs.
C) Reagan-era conservatives withdrew the United States from its global leadership roles.

Question 19

Which of the following problems does the contemporary U.S. economy face?

A) A decrease in automatization of labor
B) An increase in wealth inequality
C) An increase in social welfare programs

Question 20

The United States did not cede control of the Micronesian territories until which year?

A) 1980
B) 2005
C) 1990

Question 21

How did U.S. policy concerning participation in conflict shift from the Vietnam era to the late 1990s?

Question 22

What was the policy of containment?

Question 23

In Latin America, about what percentage of people live in cities?

A) 80
B) 20
C) 70

Question 24

Who sponsored the military coup in Brazil that replaced Joao Goulart as president in 1964?

A) Brazilian workers
B) The United States
C) Sandinistas

Question 25

Castroism in Cuba led to which of the following characteristics?

A) Private control of the economy
B) Meager economic growth
C) Friendly relations with the USSR and the United States

Question 26

Which of the following best describes Salvador Allende?

A) Chile's president after 1989
B) An opponent of labor unions
C) Overthrown by a U.S.-backed coup

Question 27

Which groups supported the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela?

A) The middle class
B) American oil company executives
C) Venezuelan workers

Question 28

Who was the leader of Argentina from 1946 to 1955?

A) Juan Perón
B) Evita Perón
C) Augusto Pinochet

Question 29

Which of the following was NOT one of the Latin American countries supported by the United States as it fought against Communist forces?

A) Colombia
B) El Salvador
C) Peru

Question 30

What kind of political party did Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro belong to?

A) Centrist conservative
B) Socialist
C) Right wing populist

Question 31

How did 9/11 affect U.S. foreign policy?

Question 32

What was the purpose of HUAC?

Question 33

Why do so many Latin American economies rely so heavily on exporting cash crops like sugar or coffee?

A) Because previous colonial economic policies discouraged diverse industries
B) Because Latin American governments are mostly unwilling to innovate
C) Because no other goods or services are viable in Latin America

Question 34

Why did the United States participate in the Korean and Vietnam wars?

Question 35

What ultimately happened to Joseph McCarthy in 1954?

A) He was executed for treason.
B) He was jailed for "un-American" activity.
C) He was censured by the U.S. Senate for radical anti-communism.

Question 36

Which country did the United Fruit Company exert significant influence in during the postwar period?

A) Argentina
B) Honduras
C) Guatemala

Question 37

What was the U.S. role in the world after World War II?

Question 38

Which organization dominated Mexican politics until the 2000s and is still influential today?

A) The PRI
B) Drug cartels
C) NAFTA

Question 39

What is the best description of Domino Theory?

A) Without intervention, unstable countries would fall to communism at an increasing rate.
B) Without intervention, unstable countries would eventually adopt democratic governments.
C) Without intervention, unstable countries would not achieve colonial independence.

Question 40

Evo Morales became the leader of Bolivia with the support of what part of the population?

A) Women
B) Indians
C) The army

Question 41

How did public opinion influence U.S. foreign and domestic policy in the 1950s and 1960s? Discuss at least one example from each decade.

Question 42

Had the United States become a superpower by the end of World War II? Why or why not?

Question 43

How did the global financial crisis of 2008 affect Latin America?

Question 44

What are some of the most pressing problems Pacific Island societies face today?

Question 45

What was the result of the Korean War?

A) Enduring stalemate
B) North Korean victory
C) Chinese takeover of South Korea

Question 46

Why did so many Americans begin to distrust government after the early 1970s?

Question 47

How have the upper, middle, and lower classes fared in the postwar American economy? Who has benefitted the most?

Question 48

Describe Hugo Chavez's foreign and domestic policies.

Question 49

How did Juan Perón take and hold on to power?

Question 50

Why is Chile often regarded as Latin America's most functional democracy?

Question 51

What were the aims of the feminist movement in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s?

Question 52

Describe the motivations and results of the Civil Rights Movement.

Question 53

Why is the decline of population growth significant to Latin America?

Question 54

What influence has the PRI had on Mexican politics?

Question 55

How has U.S. policy after 9/11 affected the United States' role in the world? Compare the aims and results of the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations.

Question 56

How had the American economy changed from the end of World War II to 2000?

Question 57

Containment was the policy that led to which of the following wars?

A) The Korean War
B) World War II
C) The Gulf War

Question 58

What is Canada's relationship to the United States?

Question 59

Relations with which state are more important to Australia: the United States, Britain, or China? Why?

Question 60

Why has the gap between rich and poor increased so much in the United States since 1945?

Question 61

How has American society changed since the 1960s? Why?

Question 62

What are the most pressing challenges faced by Latin America today? What measures are being taken to address them?

Question 63

How did the end of the British Empire affect Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand politics, economies, and societies?

Question 64

How did ideological conflicts shape Latin American politics, economies, and societies in the late 1990s and early 2000s? What role did foreign powers play in this process?

Question 65

In 1965, President Johnson sent 20,000 U.S. Marines into what Latin American country to support a military government?

A) Haiti
B) El Salvador
C) Dominican Republic

Question 66

How was U.S. policy toward Chile, Iran, and Thailand similar?

A) It imposed decades-long economic sanctions against each.
B) It covertly overthrew governments in each country.
C) It mostly ignored developments in each place.

Question 67

Which of the following was NOT a factor in the chronic instability of Asia, Africa, and Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century?

A) Decolonization
B) U.S.-Chinese rivalry
C) Dependence on agriculture

Question 68

Why do many scholars refer to a recent rise in populism in American politics? How is populism different to democracy and to what extent have recent administrations engaged in populism to strengthen their position?

Question 69

Which U.S. president started withdrawing troops from Vietnam?

A) Lyndon Johnson
B) Richard Nixon
C) Gerald Ford

Question 70

What has the U.S. role been in Latin America? Have most countries benefitted or been harmed by U.S. influence?

Question 71

What initiatives are Latin Americans participating in to promote greater development? How has this affected their economies and their foreign relations?