Deck 29: Globalization and Its Discontents

Question 1

Abu Ghraib refers to

A) a naval base in Cuba where U.S. houses prisoners.
B) a battle during the Iraq war.
C) the location where Osama bin Laden hid out in Afghanistan.
D) an Iraqi prison where U.S. soldiers tortured and humiliated prisoners of war.
E) None of these choices.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following is not a true statement about the election of 2008?

A) Voters were confused by McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, whom many considered unprepared for the job.
B) Obama's message of practical centrism and working across the aisle resonated with voters.
C) Obama's election as the first African American president was the culmination of the goals of the earlier civil rights movement.
D) The election was a close race between John McCain and Barack Obama.
E) If elected, John McCain would have been the oldest person elected to the presidency.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

After September 11,it became clear that the al Qaeda network operated from a base of power in

A) Indonesia.
B) Somalia.
C) Afghanistan.
D) Pakistan.
E) Saudi Arabia.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

One of the biggest successes of Obama's presidency was

A) passage of the Affordable Care Act.
B) deregulating the banking industry.
C) passing tax cuts that aid the middle class and the wealthiest class of Americans.
D) decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
E) stabilizing gas prices.

Question 5

What were George W.Bush's main goals when he came into the White House? How did he plan to achieve them?

Question 6

Which of the following is not an example of how Bush used September 11 to pass his conservative agenda?

A) He passed another round of tax cuts for the wealthy.
B) He secured new laws promoting prayer in public schools.
C) He increased the size of the military.
D) He cut spending on social welfare programs.
E) He secured passage of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Question 7

Shortly after taking office,which of the following signaled a potential problem for George Bush from his own party?

A) His controversial plan to search for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
B) Republican Senator Jim Jeffords declaring himself an independent.
C) Criticism of his initial reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11.
D) His father's record on the Middle East.
E) All of these choices.

Question 8

Kenneth Lay was the head of

A) FEMA when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.
B) the Enron Corporation.
C) the largest trailer manufacturing firm to receive orders from the federal government for Katrina victims.
D) Homeland Security after Michael Brown "resigned."
E) the biggest "Ponzi" scheme ever perpetrated on the American people.

Question 9

How many people died during the terrorist attacks on September 11,2001?

A) 10,000
B) 8,000
C) 5,000
D) 3,000
E) 1,500

Question 10

Which of the following best describes the Bush doctrine?

A) America has the right to defend itself from any enemies anywhere at any time.
B) America will never cower in the face of threats from or actions of terrorists.
C) It is the right of the United States to fight a preemptive war, if necessary, against any nation that has caused harm to America or Americans.
D) It is the right of the United States to wage a preemptive war against any nation that might one day threaten the United States.
E) America will never negotiate with terrorists for any reason.

Question 11

As a political movement,the Tea Party is characterized by

A) its disdain for wealthy Americans.
B) its free-market libertarianism.
C) its racism.
D) its efforts to end the war in Iraq.
E) its embrace of humanitarian issues and global social justice.

Question 12

All of the following are true statements about the Great Recession that began in 2008 except

A) Several of the nation's largest banks had overextended themselves and were filing for bankruptcy.
B) One contributing factor was a large number of housing loans made to unqualified buyers, who defaulted in large numbers.
C) Businesses stopped expanding and banks held onto their cash reserves, making new loans difficult to obtain.
D) It had a global effect, as countries such as Spain and Greece watched their economies fail, too.
E) Unemployment reached a high of 14 percent.

Question 13

Followers of Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network have harbored resentments against the United States for all of the following reasons,except

A) American politicians on the right have been increasingly motivated by religion.
B) Blowback from the days of the Cold War, when the United States supported Afghani Mujahideen only to fight the Russians.
C) American involvement in the Middle East.
D) American support for the state of Israel.
E) Osama bin Laden's embrace of the Islamic schismatic movement that justified a return to traditional Sharia law even by violence.

Question 14

Going into the campaign of 2008,the Democrats sensed the possibility of victory because

A) the economy was in bad shape.
B) the world viewed America with disdain and distrust after its forays into Afghanistan and, more especially, Iraq.
C) the American people seemed disgusted with Bush's presidency.
D) they had a chance to expand social programs that Bush had cut at a time when people were pleading for help.
E) All of these choices.

Question 15

Obama achieved all of the following in the war on terror except

A) He ended the war in Iraq.
B) He dramatically reduced the number of troops in Afghanistan.
C) He oversaw the successful capture and execution of Osama bin Laden.
D) He closed the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
E) He renewed the PATRIOT Act.

Question 16

According to the USA PATRIOT Act

A) those spying on the U.S. government will be considered enemies of the state and sentenced to life in prison.
B) the federal government no longer needs a warrant to monitor libraries, banks, bookstores and homes for suspected terrorists.
C) all men must register for the draft upon turning 18 or forfeit federal student aid for college.
D) federal employees are required to take loyalty oaths.
E) the federal government can deport anyone suspected of terrorist associations.

Question 17

The Occupy Wall Street movement that emerged in the fall of 2011

A) had as its slogan "We are the 99 percent."
B) focused its protests on camp-outs by members starting with the Wall Street area of New York.
C) inspired empathy movements in cities across the country.
D) emerged to tackle the growing gap in the nation's wealth.
E) All of these choices.

Question 18

Which was true of the election of 2004?

A) John Kerry showed tremendous charisma in his campaign.
B) Teresa Heinz Kerry became the true center of attention during the campaign because of her tremendous wealth.
C) The approval ratings of President Bush remained high up through the close election.
D) Bush stated his belief that John Kerry had no clear understanding of the hearts and minds of the American people.
E) Vietnam veterans rallied support for John Kerry wherever they could, but he never had a real chance to win the election.

Question 19

The rationale given for attacking and invading the country of Iraq in 2003 was that

A) the country possessed weapons of mass destruction, of various kinds, that could be used against the United States.
B) Saddam Hussein had tried to have George W. Bush's father, the former president, assassinated.
C) Iraq had been aiding al Qaeda since before the attacks in America.
D) Iraq was one of the members of the "axis of evil" that was trying to take over the world.
E) Iraq posed an imminent danger to the sovereignty of the state of Israel.

Question 20

The centerpiece of George W.Bush's agenda when he entered office was

A) getting to the bottom of the Enron scandal.
B) a large tax cut for wealthy Americans.
C) an increase in defense spending.
D) defending the United States against terrorists.
E) deposing Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

Question 21

How did Hurricane Katrina reinforce Americans' beliefs that the federal government was inept?

Question 22

John Kerry was hurt in his bid for the presidency in 2004 by his personality and uncertainty over what he would do in Iraq if elected.

Question 23

Both supporters and critics feared that George W.Bush was attempting to remake the Middle East when he began the war with Iraq.

Question 24

The Enron Corporation was a huge military contract corporation that filed for bankruptcy in 2002,a move that led to the loss of pensions for about 20,000 employees.

Question 25

What were George W.Bush's avowed goals in invading Iraq?

Question 26

The U.S.government offered financial institutions $500 billion of taxpayer money in a bailout to prevent them from declaring bankruptcy.

Question 27

Early in his presidency,what measures was Bush able to bring about? How did Senator Jim Jeffords weaken the president's ability to operate?

Question 28

Sarah Palin was the first woman to run for vice president of the United States.

Question 29

Almost 2,000 people lost their lives along the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Question 30

The administration of George W.Bush presented clear evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before it invaded that country.

Question 31

After he was deposed,Saddam Hussein hid out for several months before he was discovered living in a hole in the ground; handed over by the Americans to the Iraqis,Saddam was soon executed.

Question 32

What was the Bush doctrine? How did it differ from all earlier doctrines proposed by presidents Monroe,Roosevelt,and Truman?

Question 33

What did Americans learn about the perpetrators of the attack in the hours and days just after the attacks?

Question 34

What was the political status of Afghanistan in 2001 that made it a target of America's wrath?

Question 35

How did the attacks by al Qaeda affect America,both in ways specific to the attacks themselves,and in regard to the ability of Americans to cope with their new sense of unease?

Question 36

Discuss the problems and challenges Barack Obama faced in office.

Question 37

In the case Citizens United v.Federal Election Commission,the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could set limits on the amount of money corporations spend on elections.

Question 38

John McCain's bid for the presidency was hindered by his presumed ties to the unpopular George W.Bush.