Deck 20: A New Agenda for Security and Strategy, James J Wirtz

Question 1

Worldwide, population growth rates are slowing after having reached a peak of 2 per cent in the 1960s.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

It is anticipated that how much of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050?

A) 10 per cent
B) 50 per cent
C) 60 per cent
D) 75 per cent

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Those who suggest that environmental or global issues are a national security threat often resort to Malthusian scenarios to justify their judgements. Malthus argued that populations grow in a geometric fashion while food supplies only increase by an arithmetic ratio, meaning that, if current trends continued, humanity would inevitably outpace the food supply, leading to cataclysmic social collapse.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Which of the following are global 'commons problems'?

A) The release of carbon dioxide by automobiles and coal-burning power plants
B) Destruction of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons
C) Global warming caused by the release of greenhouse gases
D) All the options given are correct.

Question 5

According to James J. Wirtz in chapter 21 of Strategy in the Contemporary World, commons issues should be treated as strategic because such issues are best addressed through military action.

Question 6

Vulnerabilities refer to the ability of developments outside national boundaries to influence domestic events in other countries.

Question 7

Although tuberculosis once was considered a major threat in the developing world, according to the World Health Organization, it no longer presents a significant problem and should be eliminated entirely by 2020.

Question 8

Which of the following factors may be responsible for an increasing global threat from infectious disease?

A) Refugee movements
B) Flawed food production practices
C) Land use practices
D) All the options given are correct.

Question 9

According to chapter 21 in Strategy in the Contemporary World, a utilitarian assessment to determine if there is a new agenda for security and strategy should consider the following point(s):

A) Low politics issues are of strategic interest when they have effects likely to shape how force is used in the future.
B) If military units can usefully take action to address a problem, the subject is relevant to strategy and strategists.
C) If military action has environmental, resource, or demographic consequences, strategists should address these issues.
D) All the options given are correct.

Question 10

In chapter 21 of Strategy in the Contemporary World, James J. Wirtz dismisses 'low politics' concerns as irrelevant.