Deck 13: The Many Worlds of the Twenty-First Century: 1972-2012

Question 1

In 1995, an idea first discussed at the Bretton Woods conference in July of 1944 emerged as the:

A) United Nations.
B) World Trade Organization.
C) the Internet.
D) European Common Market.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

In the 1970s, OPEC attempted to:

A) shift the relationship between oil producers and consumers.
B) reduce global dependence on petroleum
C) join the United Nations.
D) support US foreign policy in the Middle East.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Poland's Solidarity Movement in the early 1980s:

A) challenged the power of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.
B) lobbied for the election of a Polish Pope.
C) was the beginning of the Arab Spring.
D) prevented the union of East and West Germany.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In the early twenty-first century, China and India together account for approximately one-third of the world's:

A) economic output.
B) carbon footprint.
C) service industries.
D) population.

Question 5

Which of the following is true about Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese successor to Mao Zedong?
I) He annexed Taiwan to create one China.
II) He opened the Chinese economy for international trade.
III) He suppressed movements to open the political system toward democratic reforms.

A) I and II only.
B) I and III only.
C) II and III only.
D) I, II, and III.

Question 6

The reforms known as glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union were introduced by:

A) Leonid Brezhnev.
B) Vladimir Putin.
C) Ronald Reagan.
D) Mikhail Gorbachev.

Question 7

In the 1990s, the country of Rwanda experienced:

A) decolonization.
B) genocide.
C) the world's fastest economic growth rate.
D) rapid industrialization.

Question 8

The "standard narrative" about the end of the Cold War gives significant credit to the roles played by:

A) Truman, Stalin, and Mao
B) Reagan, Gorbachev, and John Paul II
C) Kagan, Nye, and Cohen
D) Nixon, Brezhnev, and Khomeini

Question 9

The 1979 Iranian revolution was a signal that

A) the Cold War was ending.
B) the power of the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) was waning.
C) fundamentalist Islam was a rising political force.
D) US influence in the Middle East was growing.

Question 10

The rapprochement between the United States and the People's Republic of China was:

A) the end of the Cold War.
B) an acceptance by the US of communist ideology.
C) an act of political realism.
D) orchestrated by the USSR to have China mediate disputes with the US.

Question 11

Which of the following was part of Mikhail Gorbachev's reform program for the Soviet Union?

A) a space based missile defense program to counter the American military buildup
B) opening internal policy debates and institutional restructuring
C) charging up the economy as Stalin had done in the 1930s in order to compete with China
D) maintaining the Communist Party in Eastern Europe but under free elections

Question 12

Which of the following events most accurately reflects Francis Fukuyama's "End of History" thesis?

A) the values of western liberal democracy were becoming universal.
B) China and India's air pollution problems were threatening to end the human race.
C) Al Qaeda's attacks on the United States demonstrated the absurdity of studying history.
D) China's emergence as an economic power signaled a return to the biological old regime.

Question 13

At the time of President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1972:

A) the PRC was the world's largest exporter of steel.
B) the PRC and the Soviet Union were about to form a mutual defense pact.
C) the PRC and the US did not have official diplomatic relations.
D) the PRC was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons technology.

Question 14

Protest movements in China in 1989:

A) led to significant democratic reforms.
B) were orchestrated by the Communist Party.
C) inspired the resignation of Deng Xiaoping.
D) were brutally repressed.

Question 15

The European Union:

A) was disbanded in 2015.
B) does not address issues beyond economic integration of its member states.
C) has been called into question by Great Britain's decision to leave the organization.
D) has not admitted new members since the end of the Cold War.

Question 16

According to the United Nations Human Development Index, a global measure for quality of life issues, which of the following is true?
I) Between 1970 and 2010, life expectancy generally increased globally.
II) Between 1970 and 2010, the wealth gap between rich and poor decreased.
III) Between 1970 and 2010, education became more available.

A) I and II only.
B) I and III only.
C) II and III only.
D) I, II, and III.

Question 17

In 1979, Soviet troops were deployed in an attempt to shore up a communist government in:

A) Iran
B) Vietnam
C) Iraq
D) Afghanistan

Question 18

The global economic crisis of 2008:

A) had an uneven impact around the world.
B) had a particularly negative effect in China and India.
C) had little effect on employment rates in Europe.
D) destroyed the BRICS coalition.

Question 19

In the 1970s, the governments of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia:

A) denounced US intervention in the Middle East.
B) established a free trade agreement with China.
C) joined OPEC.
D) fell to communist insurgencies.

Question 20

Compare and contrast competing ideas about the forces that brought an end to the Soviet Union and the Cold War. Based on your study of history broadly, which arguments do you find most persuasive? Why?

Question 21

At the end of the Cold War, many observers of global affairs anticipated that a "peace dividend" would materialize. Why do you think that idea would have currency? Why did it not materialize?

Question 22

Construct a cost-benefit analysis of the global political and economic order that emerged in the early twenty-first century. What are the major advances of the past half-century? What are the most pressing global challenges to emerge? What are the most promising solutions to those challenges?