Deck 16: Humanitarianism: Human Rights and Refugees

Question 1

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is a citizen of

A) Vietnam.
B) Cambodia.
C) Burma (Myanmar).
D) Bangladesh.

Answer 1

Burma (Myanmar).

Question 2

President Franklin Roosevelt?s ?four freedoms? include all of the following EXCEPT

A) freedom from disease.
B) freedom from want.
C) freedom from fear.
D) freedom of speech and expression.

Answer 2

freedom from disease.

Question 3

Separating people on the basis of race or ethnicity is associated with all of the following EXCEPT

A) slavery.
B) apartheid.
C) assimilation.
D) ethnic cleansing.

Answer 3

assimilation.

Question 4

An estimated 500,000 women die of pregnancy-related causes each year,

A) spread about evenly around the world.
B) concentrated mostly in capital-poor Third World countries.
C) concentrated mostly in Latin America.
D) concentrated mostly in central Europe.

Question 5

Which perspective or understanding puts human rights issues on the agendas of international organizations?

A) Universality of human rights.
B) Human rights are solely the responsibility of individual states.
C) There is no legal basis for interfering in the affairs of sovereign states, even when human rights violations rise to the level of genocide or torture.
D) Human rights are culturally defined and thus not universal.

Question 6

Americans interested in human rights have tended to be

A) both social liberals and social conservatives.
B) extremists on both the left and the right.
C) statists-advocates of strong state power and authority.
D) political extremists on both left and right.

Question 7

When public need supersedes individual property rights but assures just compensation, it is part of the legal doctrine of

A) egalitarianism.
B) eminent domain.
C) rightful compensation.
D) habeas corpus.

Question 8

In the United States, equal protection of the laws is most closely associated with

A) progressive income tax.
B) equal opportunity.
C) right to due process.
D) just compensation.

Question 9

One categorical imperative set forth by Immanuel Kant mandates that everyone treat human beings

A) so as to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number.
B) with regard to their place in society.
C) as created by God.
D) not just as means, but as ends worthy in themselves.

Question 10

Another categorical imperative set forth by Kant establishes which criterion for determining right conduct?

A) that it is virtuous behavior we can observe in great persons
B) that it can be set forth as a universal maxim or norm for all to follow
C) that it is consistent with the Ten Commandments
D) that it is consistent with a social contract among human beings

Question 11

Those rights which an individual enjoys simply by being a member of a society with a government are called

A) political rights.
B) economic rights.
C) human rights.
D) civil rights.

Question 12

The idea of agreeing upon principles of human rights and then declaring them as binding obligations is consistent with a (an)

A) positivist view.
B) relativist view.
C) democratic view.
D) enlightened view.

Question 13

King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta which

A) gave rights to all people in England.
B) gave rights to free men of England.
C) gave special rights to the nobility.
D) forced him to abdicate and leave the country.

Question 14

The writings of Thomas Paine

A) supported the conservative views of English writer Edmund Burke.
B) supported natural rights as well as egalitarian and communitarian claims.
C) undermined the French Revolution of 1789.
D) had much in common with the concerns of Thomas Hobbes on the overriding importance of establishing security in society.

Question 15

The Declaration of the Rights of Man was a document of the

A) English Civil War.
B) American Revolutionary War.
C) French Revolution.
D) League of Nations.

Question 16

The U.S. Bill of Rights

A) is part of the Declaration of Independence.
B) is part of the Constitution of 1787.
C) are the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
D) was never formally ratified.

Question 17

Some human rights advocates see the Universal Declaration on Human Rights passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 as

A) having the same binding force of a treaty.
B) the basis for establishing the International Court of Justice.
C) having no legitimacy and thus is of little importance.
D) already having the standing of customary international law, although not everyone agrees.

Question 18

Which of the following is a principal organ of the United Nations?

A) The United Nations Civil Rights Commission
B) The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
C) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
D) The International Court of Justice at The Hague in the Netherlands

Question 19

The Nuremberg trials dealt with the

A) Bolsheviks.
B) Nazis.
C) conspirators against the Nazi regime.
D) crimes against the German state committed during World War I.

Question 20

European institutions that address human rights issues include all of the following EXCEPT

A) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
B) the Council of Europe.
C) the European Court of Human Rights.
D) the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Question 21

Concerning land mines

A) the United States has led the effort to ban them.
B) they can be easily and quickly eliminated.
C) international law accepted by all UN members now prohibits them.
D) that there are some 250 million land mines is worrisome, given the number of people who are killed or otherwise are harmed by them.

Question 22

Individuals and families become refugees for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

A) wishing to leave their home and family.
B) being uprooted by war.
C) fleeing political oppression.
D) being uprooted by civil strife.

Question 23

International migration has critical and direct implications for all of the following EXCEPT

A) governmental authority.
B) societal stability.
C) both domestic and international security.
D) income or other tax rates.

Question 24

Reasons given for people leaving the former Soviet Union included all of the following EXCEPT

A) military restructuring.
B) political reasons.
C) economic opportunity.
D) welcome from countries short of labor in Western Europe.

Question 25

Compassion fatigue may be largely a consequence of

A) high visibility produced by television.
B) lack of moral fiber in Western industrialized countries.
C) a view of refugees as being victims unworthy of help.
D) greediness inherent in capitalism.

Question 26

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was started in 1951 as a consequence of

A) World War II.
B) the Korean War.
C) the communist regimes of Eastern Europe.
D) the Indo-China War.

Question 27

The level of welcome of refugees in Western countries seems to be closely related to

A) political calculations with regard to country of origin.
B) the economic growth rate and capacity of receiving countries.
C) race and gender.
D) seriousness of individual plight.

Question 28

According to the international regime regarding the treatment of refugee groups, refugees are accorded treatment in relation to

A) domestic support for certain refugees in the receiving country.
B) publicity the refugees receive.
C) financial cost to be incurred by accepting them.
D) actual seriousness of individual cases.

Question 29

Reluctance to interfere in refugee-producing states is based on all of the following EXCEPT

A) lack of international support for certain contingencies.
B) the fact that most of the areas producing refugees also have high levels of armed conflict.
C) lack of overriding national security interests to support such involvement.
D) legal prohibition of any interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state-even when the affected state requests this support.

Question 30

The Fourth Geneva Convention deals with

A) how civilians caught in conflicts are to be treated humanely.
B) the humane treatment of members of the armed forces who are prisoners of war.
C) the humane treatment of members of the armed forces who are wounded and sick.
D) the humane treatment of leaders of foreign governments who have been captured.

Question 31

The killing of newborn girls is a fairly common phenomenon in both rural India and China.

Question 32

Traditionally, Americans have placed the rights of the community above those of the individual.

Question 33

Classical liberalism was associated with individualism.

Question 34

Advocates of cultural relativism reject the idea of universal human rights.

Question 35

John Locke argued that people have natural rights that include life and liberty.

Question 36

The Magna Carta extended the concept of individual liberty substantially farther than the
Declaration of the Rights of Man did.

Question 37

The Magna Carta is associated with the French Revolution.

Question 38

The International Court of Justice can only hear cases that are brought before it voluntarily by states.

Question 39

Latin America and Africa have led the way in promoting international human rights.

Question 40

Traditional solutions to refugee crises fortunately appear to be adequate for the current Third World refugee situation.

Question 41

Are values associated with human rights universal or culturally determined? In this regard, discuss the concept of cultural relativism. Why is it at odds with the idea of universal principles of human rights?

Question 42

Should torture ever be used as an interrogation tactic? Does the end ever justify the means? Answer these questions by considering moral, legal, and pragmatic arguments.

Question 43

Discuss the development of the concept of human rights with specific attention to why the United States places so little importance on economic egalitarianism.

Question 44

In what ways are women treated differently than men around the world? How can you explain this?

Question 45

Write an essay examining the international effort to promote human rights. Which organizations are most active? How effective has the effort been?

Question 46

Should the United States take a more active role in support of universal human rights? If your answer is no, discuss your reasons. If your answer is yes, discuss what the priorities should be.

Question 47

Discuss the concept of compassion fatigue, including its causes, consequences, and cures.

Question 48

How many and what kinds of refugees should be welcomed to the United States annually? Defend your answer.

Question 49

To what extent should the international war on terrorism take precedence over human rights standards?

Question 50

Discuss how the ʺConvention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishmentʺ might be applied to a contemporary conflict.