Deck 4: Americas Changing National Interests

Question 1

Homeland security is perceived as a subjective and secondary national interest.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

National interests are influenced by ideology, assumptions, and individual, class, and regime interests.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The U.S. national interest during the Cold War was to stop the spread of communism, thus influencing its policy of containment.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The United States had an aggressive, rather than isolationist, foreign policy following World War I.

Question 5

The United States used only force in its pursuit of manifest destiny.

Question 6

The U.S. interest in China at the close of the nineteenth century was primarily motivated by the desire to protect China from being broken up into European or Japanese spheres of influence.

Question 7

The United States circumvented the Neutrality Acts before entering WWII through tactics such as Lend Lease.

Question 8

The UN Charter was drawn up while WWII was still in progress.

Question 9

The Cold War began when the United States started breaking the agreements made at the 1945 Yalta conference.

Question 10

The major challenge that China poses to the United States is its well-developed military force.

Question 11

National interest is ________.

A) what is good for the state in terms of domestic politics
B) what is good for the state as a whole in international affairs
C) a static concept that a state follows closely and inflexibly
D) the ability of a state to make whatever decisions it wants regarding other countries
E) the set of strategies a state uses to improve the living standards of its people

Question 12

A state's vital national interest is ________.

A) based on its goals far from home
B) to protect its trading interests abroad
C) any interest that contributes to economic prosperity
D) first and foremost to remain sovereign-meaning to avoid being conquered
E) to remain viable as a regional economic power

Question 13

An example of a secondary national interest would be ________.

A) a country's interests close to home
B) the affairs of a far-off nation
C) a country's interests in safeguarding its territorial integrity
D) homeland security issues
E) a state's concerns with an internal independence movement

Question 14

Manifest destiny refers to ________.

A) a manifestation of national interest prior to independence
B) the belief and slogan that the United States was destined to get rid of British influence from the colonies
C) a direct divergence with the U.S. national interest before independence
D) a direct divergence with the U.S. national interest after independence
E) the belief and slogan that the United States was destined to pursue a continental republic

Question 15

The U.S. policy of isolationism remained until ________.

A) 1800
B) the late 1850s
C) the late 1890s
D) 1914
E) 2001

Question 16

Which of the following was a factor that prompted America to pursue imperial expansion?

A) a weakened German Empire
B) a worldwide spirit of isolationism
C) a new, strong China
D) the need for new land to hold an increasing population
E) a sharp economic depression

Question 17

When U.S. national interest turned to one of imperialism, the United States acquired which of the following territories?

A) Spain, Cuba, and Guam
B) Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Alaska
C) the Philippines and Alaska
D) Cuba, Hawaii, and Alaska
E) Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii, Wake Island, and American Samoa

Question 18

The United States turned to isolationism following WWI because ________.

A)Europe was still very unstable despite the many lives that were lost in an effort to avoid just this
B) the United States wanted to protect its successful economic interests
C) the United States wanted to solidify its place in the international power structure
D) the United States had no overseas interests to protect
E) the United States did not want to risk its ever-growing Navy

Question 19

What did the Kellogg-Briand Pact do?

A) It limited the number of battleships that major sea powers could possess.
B) It called for U.S. neutrality in light of the "merchants of death."
C) It ensured other European countries' assistance in the event of a war.
D) It outlawed war.
E) It promoted addition of more battleships.

Question 20

Mahan's sea power theory includes which of these arguments?

A) Countries need not expand to stay prosperous.
B) Sea power, or a navy, may not necessarily help expansion.
C) A navy is sufficient for expansion and colonies are not needed.
D) Colonies will eventually turn out to be a burden to a country.
E) A strong navy ensures overseas commerce.

Question 21

Which of the following did the Atlantic Charter seek?

A) disarmament
B) arms proliferation
C) territorial aggrandizement
D) control of foreign trade
E) obliteration of dictatorship

Question 22

What is one reason that United Nations membership was passed by Congress while the League of Nations was not?

A)U.S. military aid allowed the United States to have more influence over the organization.
B) The UN was less of a threat to U.S. sovereignty than the League of Nations.
C) Ending the war was a prerequisite for all those who joined.
D) Republicans and Democrats were feeling particularly friendly as the country was pulling out of the Great Depression.
E) U.S. corporations were permitted to trade with all other UN member states.

Question 23

Which of the following was an arrangement whereby the United States helped allies during World War II?

A) isolationism
B) Atlantic Charter
C) Lend Lease
D) imperialism
E) Kellogg-Briand Pact

Question 24

The Truman Doctrine ________.

A) called for aid to European countries
B) called for aid to war-torn European countries
C) was the U.S. policy to block Soviet expansion
D) was the 1947 call to aid China and Greece, then under the threat of Communist guerrillas
E) was the 1947 call to aid countries under the threat of communism

Question 25

The Marshall Plan ________.

A) called for massive aid to war-torn Europe
B) called for massive aid to war-torn Europe and Asia
C) called for aid to countries under the threat of communism
D) was framed by Kennan in 1947
E) was a policy to block Soviet expansion into Korea

Question 26

Containment is the U.S. policy of ________.

A) blocking Soviet power, developed by Wilson
B) blocking Soviet power, developed by Kennan in 1947
C) blocking the spread of communism by China
D) aiding the countries under the threat of communism
E) limiting Soviet power through economic means only

Question 27

The outcome of containment was hoped to be ________.

A) a temporary halt on the spread of communism
B) the prevention of communism from spreading to China
C) the ultimate break-up or gradual mellowing of Soviet power
D) the prevention of communism spreading into North America, South America, and the Caribbean
E) the prevention of communism spreading to Europe only

Question 28

In which of the following areas does emerging power China pose its greatest challenge to the U.S?

A) naval power
B) military power
C) economic power
D) strategic connection
E) literacy

Question 29

A person of Wilsonian persuasion would likely argue for ________.

A) domestic progress through international economic success
B) limited foreign involvement, as it can hurt domestic institutions
C) no involvement in foreign wars
D) generating peace through international law, organizations, and treaties
E) rejecting the spread of democracy and human rights

Question 30

The Cold War international system can be characterized as ________.

A) unipolar
B) tripolar
C) multipolar
D) bipolar
E) a U.S.-Soviet duopoly

Question 31

Describe the national interests of Britain and the colonies prior to the American Revolution. Were these national interests necessarily divergent? Could these interests have been reconciled? How were national interests related to the onset of the war and subsequently American independence?

Question 32

Do high levels of trade, and therefore interdependence, in a globalized world make what are traditionally considered "secondary" national interests more important? Define secondary national interest, and justify your answers with examples of particular situations in which these secondary interests have been critical to economic and national success and security.

Question 33

How are national interest and power related? Can a country overstate its national interests and lack sufficient power to back it up? Do you think the United States has done that in recent years? Finally, do you think that is ultimately the destiny of all superpowers? Explain your arguments with reasons and examples.

Question 34

Discuss the various factors that led the United States to break its isolationist tendencies for the first time. What are these factors and how did they contribute to the end of isolationism? If any one of these factors had been absent, would the United States have abandoned an isolationist foreign policy? Explain why or why not.

Question 35

What are the current national interests of the United States? What problems, both current and emerging, must be taken into account when formulating these current national interests?