Deck 30: After the Fall: The Western World in a Global Age Since 1985

Question 1

The collapse of the Soviet Union took place in

A)1989.
B)1991.
C)1993.
D)1994.
E)1995.

Answer 1

1991.

Question 2

In 1988, the first free parliamentary elections to occur in Eastern Europe for forty years took place in

A)Hungary.
B)Austria.
C)Poland.
D)Estonia.
E)Lithuania.

Answer 2

Poland.

Question 3

As general secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev abolished Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution, which had guaranteed the "leading role" to the Communist Party.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

By the 1980s Soviet problems included all of the following EXCEPT

A)a collapse of the space exploration program.
B)a decline in the standard of living.
C)rigid, centralized planning.
D)the failure to keep pace with the West in the production of high technology.
E)the inability of the Communist Party and state agencies to solve problems quickly.

Question 5

The brutal dictatorial Communist government of Nicolae Ceausescu came to an end 1989 in

A)Czechoslovakia.
B)Bulgaria.
C)East Germany.
D)Romania.
E)Yugoslavia.

Question 6

Because of the success of Russia's new free-market society, introduced after the collapse of the Soviet Union, by the early twenty-first century, less than five percent of the Russian people were still living in poverty.

Question 7

In 2013 Pope Francis became the first pope from Latin America.

Question 8

The country that exemplified the European debt crisis with a national debt in 2010 larger than its national economy was Greece.

Question 9

The first independence movements among the Soviet republics during Gorbachev's rule occurred in the Baltic area of

A)Afghanistan.
B)Azerbaijan.
C)Lithuania.
D)Georgia.
E)Chechnya.

Question 10

Dmitry Medvedev was succeeded as president of Russia in 2012 by

A)Boris Yeltsin.
B)Nikolai Patrushev.
C)Vladimir Putin.
D)Nikolay Kovalyov.
E)Viktor Zubkov.

Question 11

The United States is home to 6 percent of the planet's people but consumes 50 percent of its resources.

Question 12

Under Vladimir Putin's presidency, all of the following occurred EXCEPT

A)power was centralized in the federal government.
B)Russia ended its war in Chechnya.
C)as many as 40 percent of the population lived in poverty.
D)the economy grew significantly and the government had a budget surplus.
E)the economy significantly depended upon exports of oil and natural gas.

Question 13

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia struggled with all of the following EXCEPT:

A)a renewed Communist Party majority which took over the government.
B)organized crime.
C)an uprising in largely Muslim Chechnya.
D)economic hardships.
E)a president who was often ill.

Question 14

In 2004, Yugoslavia officially ceased to exist when it was renamed Serbia and Montenegro.

Question 15

Under perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev

A)intended to frighten the United States with more military spending.
B)intended to create a more free and open political culture in the USSR.
C)intended to turn all power over to the people.
D)intended to restructure the economic and political systems.
E)intended to make cosmetic reforms without altering state policies.

Question 16

In the 2008, Barack Obama won the U.S.presidential election on a platform of change "we can believe in" and ending the war in Iraq.

Question 17

The reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall led to the immediate emergence of considerable prosperity in the former Eastern Germany.

Question 18

The justifications that George W.Bush used for invading Iraq in 2003 were agreed upon by most members of the United Nations.

Question 19

The leader of Czechoslovakia in 1990 who replaced the Communist government was the former dissident writer and philosopher

A)Kádár.
B)Husák.
C)Dubèek.
D)Havel.
E)Dubrovnik.

Question 20

The Lisbon Treaty, ratified in 2009 by the EU, dramatically reduced the power of the European Parliament.

Question 21

The newest member of the EU, having joined in 2013, is

A)Lithuania.
B)Estonia.
C)Poland.
D)Slovenia.
E)Croatia.

Question 22

Yugoslavia was divided into warring factions because of

A)demands for ethnic separatism.
B)differences in political goals.
C)support of the Serbs.
D)lack of cultural diversity.
E)religious uniformity.

Question 23

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's centrist policies were most reminiscent of

A)Helmut Kohl's.
B)Margaret Thatcher's.
C)Ronald Reagan's.
D)Bill Clinton's.
E)Vladimir Putin's.

Question 24

All of the following are associated with the first presidency of Barack Obama EXCEPT

A)passage of a sweeping health care bill.
B)legislation aimed at regulating financial institutions.
C)an emphasis on the need to combat global warming.
D)an escalation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
E)a focus on addressing the decline in the educational system.

Question 25

Challenges facing the European Union in the early twenty-first century include

A)the lack of a common currency.
B)the lack of any military force.
C)that many Europeans remain committed to a national identity and do not see themselves as "Europeans."
D)lack of economic assistance to Europe's farming community.
E)the failure to create a truly single internal market.

Question 26

One of the underlying causes for the end of the Cold War was

A)the fall of Khrushchev in the Soviet Union and election of Reagan in the United States.
B)financial difficulties for both the superpowers and the unbearable expenses of the arms race.
C)peace movements in both countries.
D)the end of the Afghan War.
E)the death of Gorbachev.

Question 27

British Prime Minister David Cameron is a member of the

A)Labour Party.
B)Conservative Party.
C)Liberal Democrats.
D)Democratic Unionist Party.
E)Green Party.

Question 28

A continuing problem roiling Canadian politics for the past several decades has been

A)whether to always give support to United States foreign policy.
B)the demand by many French-speaking Canadians that the province of Quebec become independent of the rest of Canada.
C)the desire by many Canadians that Canada become a republic and sever all ties with the British monarchy.
D)whether to nationalize Canada's sizeable oil and gas reserves.
E)whether to change from a parliamentary system of government and adopt instead the US presidential model.

Question 29

The new republic of Kosovo was established in

A)2000.
B)2004.
C)2006.
D)2008.
E)2010.

Question 30

George H.W.Bush was defeated for reelection in 1992 for all of the following EXCEPT

A)the inability to win the Gulf War.
B)government budget deficits.
C)a downturn in the economy.
D)Bill Clinton's strategy of claiming to be a "New Democrat" and more conservative than recent Democratic candidates.
E)None of these are correct.

Question 31

Bosnians, Croatians, and Serbs met in Dayton, Ohio, in 1995 and

A)for the first time, truly unified Yugoslavia.
B)negotiated an end to the war in Bosnia.
C)were unable to come to an accord on any policy matters.
D)agreed to adhere to the Geneva Accords as their multi-party conflict raged on.
E)agreed to join the European Community.

Question 32

Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in

A)1990.
B)1991.
C)1992.
D)1993.
E)1994.

Question 33

The major issue that troubled Italian society in recent decades has been

A)Islamic terrorism.
B)Catholic fundamentalism.
C)political corruption.
D)a significant increase in the birth rate.
E)economic collapse, with high unemployment and bankruptcies.

Question 34

The reunification of Germany was accomplished under the leadership of

A)Willy Brandt.
B)Conrad Adenauer.
C)Helmut Schmidt.
D)Gunter Grass.
E)Helmut Kohl.

Question 35

Massive rioting in the suburbs of Paris in 2005 was caused by

A)higher taxes.
B)the end of free national health care.
C)resentment of some young Muslims about unemployment and living conditions.
D)anti-Muslim hysteria amongst a majority of other Parisian residents.
E)anti-EU sentiment.

Question 36

The common currency that was initially adopted by eleven member states of the European Union is the

A)continental.
B)euro.
C)maastricht.
D)francmark.
E)freipence.

Question 37

The tactic of "ethnic cleansing," murdering or forcibly removing ethnic minorities from their lands in the former Yugoslavia, is a savage strategy of modern political terror practiced most brutally by

A)Serbians.
B)Croatians.
C)Bosnians.
D)Albanians.
E)Slovenes.

Question 38

All of the following led to decline in George W.Bush's popularity by his second term as president EXCEPT

A)his strong support for environmental programs that were opposed by major business interests.
B)the war in Iraq.
C)tax cuts that primarily benefited the wealthy.
D)poor handling of the relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
E)financial corruption in the Republican Party.

Question 39

All of the following are correct about the Bill Clinton presidency EXCEPT

A)an economic revival.
B)the adoption of a costly national health system.
C)a reduction of government budget deficits.
D)Clinton was politically damaged because of an affair with a White House intern.
E)Clinton's vice president became the Democratic presidential candidate in 2000.

Question 40

The party that won nearly 50 percent of the vote in East Germany's 1990 election was

A)the Popular Front.
B)the Communists.
C)the Christian Democrats.
D)the Green Party.
E)the Libertarians.

Question 41

The first opportunity for testing the new relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union in the post-Cold War era was the

A)Chinese-Vietnamese War.
B)Arab-Israeli War.
C)war in Angola.
D)Persian Gulf War.
E)Iraq War.

Question 42

A dramatic social development affecting the status and expectations of women in Western Europe since the 1960s has been

A)moves by conservative governments to pass legislation making it far more difficult for women to work outside the home.
B)the effective lobbying of the European Catholic churches to outlaw abortion and restrict the sale of contraceptives.
C)the collapse of European social welfare states under the burden of rapidly aging populations.
D)an increase in birth rates across Europe because of increasing prosperity and more leisure time.
E)a persistent decline in birth rates across Europe, with Spain's becoming the lowest in the world.

Question 43

The collapse of the U.S.housing market in 2007-2008 led to

A)firm international agreement about how to manage the global economy.
B)no real hardship except for the rich.
C)a worldwide recession.
D)falling prices for gold.
E)a necessary recalibration of the international debt-to-capital ratio.

Question 44

The austerity measures put into place in the wake of the global financial crisis resulted in all of the following EXCEPT

A)increased homelessness.
B)mass protests.
C)reductions in pensions, wages, and health care services.
D)a speedy economic recovery for Europe and the United States.
E)the rise in Europe of political parties of the far left and right.

Question 45

All of the following are true of Pope John Paul II EXCEPT

A)being the first non-Italian pope since the sixteenth century.
B)holding liberal views on birth control and women in the priesthood.
C)condemning nuclear weapons and war.
D)being a strong believer in social justice.
E)traveling widely.

Question 46

Which of the following artists was a Neo-Expressionist?

A)Jean-Michael Basquiat
B)Pablo Picasso
C)Jackson Pollock
D)Andy Warhol
E)Allan Kaprow

Question 47

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the United States initially waged war in

A)Iraq.
B)the Persian Gulf.
C)Iran.
D)Pakistan.
E)Afghanistan.

Question 48

Which of the following is NOT true of the video game industry?

A)Video game sales have surged as record sales have struggled.
B)Estimated global sales reached $65 billion in 2011.
C)Video games have rejected realism, using abstract images to convey action.
D)Questions have arisen about the role of video games in childhood obesity.
E)Some medical professionals have claimed that gaming can result in addiction.

Question 49

A serious criticism of the Digital Age is

A)that it makes cultures more independent.
B)that it has increased bodily reality.
C)it is not technically advanced.
D)it has displaced cultural uniqueness and bodily presence.
E)it is not affordable, costing too much money.

Question 50

All are correct about the war in Iraq that began in 2003 EXCEPT

A)the Bush administration claimed that Iraq's Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
B)establishing a new government in Iraq was difficult because of differences among the Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds.
C)the Iraqi army was quickly defeated.
D)an increase in American troops in 2007 helped stabilize conditions after the outbreak of civil war.
E)the complete withdrawal of American troops was completed in 2009.

Question 51

It could be claimed that all of the following contributed to Islamic terrorist activity against the West EXCEPT

A)the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
B)the rise of fundamentalist Islam with the coming to power of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran.
C)the stationing of US forces in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War.
D)the defeat of Muslim Pakistan by India in Kashmir.
E)the Iraq war, which resulted in many civilian casualties and the torture of prisoners by American troops.

Question 52

The world population reached 7 billion people in 2013, having increased by 2 billion people in only

A)50 years.
B)40 years.
C)35 years.
D)25 years.
E)15 years.

Question 53

Apple's iPad was introduced in

A)1990.
B)1998.
C)2005.
D)2010.
E)2012.

Question 54

All of the following are examples of the women's movement EXCEPT

A)participation in antinuclear protests, such as at Greenham Common, England, in 1982.
B)the lack of success in repealing laws against birth control and abortion in Europe.
C)the repeal of many laws against birth control and abortion in most European countries.
D)participation in many international conferences devoted to women's issues.
E)assuming leadership in environmental campaigns, such as Petra Kelly, who was one of the founders of the German Green Party.

Question 55

"al-Qaeda" means

A)"death to Americans."
B)"holy war."
C)"the base."
D)"God is great."
E)"hide in plain sight."

Question 56

A transnational corporation is defined as

A)a company that seeks to undermine national sovereignty.
B)democracy by other means.
C)a company that has divisions in more than two countries.
D)a company that writes laws in the countries where it resides.
E)a company that has employees from more than ten countries.

Question 57

Protestant fundamentalism generally includes all of the following EXCEPT

A)opposition to Darwinian evolution.
B)literal interpretation of the Bible.
C)support of secularism.
D)opposition to legalized abortion and homosexuality.
E)opposition to communism.

Question 58

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected pope in 2013, chose to take the name of which medieval saint?

A)Saint Dominic
B)Saint Ambrose
C)Saint Jerome
D)Saint Francis
E)Saint Anselm

Question 59

An example of nationalist terrorism is the

A)Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany.
B)IRA in Northern Ireland.
C)New Order in Italy.
D)Charles Martel Club in France.
E)Al-Qaeda in the Middle East.

Question 60

The politician who called terrorism "the enemy of our generation" was

A)Tony Blair.
B)George W.Bush.
C)Vladimir Putin.
D)Jacques Chirac.
E)Bill Clinton.

Question 61

European debt crisis

Question 62

Which people and events brought the Cold War to an end? Is it accurate to declare "winners" and "losers"? Why or why not?

Question 63

How do the problems and antagonisms among the other countries of the former Yugoslavia exemplify the continuing force of nationalism in contemporary Europe?

Question 64

How have terrorism and the war on terrorism suggested the advent of a "clash of civilizations"?

Question 65

global warming/greenhouse effect

Question 66

What attitudes and actions have determined American foreign policy since 1985?

Question 67

developed and developing nations

Question 68

What role has popular culture played in the Western world since 1985?

Question 69

What is globalization, and what are its potential impacts on the concept of Western civilization?

Question 70

World Bank, multinational/transnational corporations, GATT, and the WTO

Question 71

NGOs

Question 72

Discuss, with specific examples, what has been gained and what has been lost as a result of the emergence of the Digital Age.

Question 73

What major economic challenges have plagued the West during the 1980s, the 1990s, and the early twenty-first century?

Question 74

Is capitalism the dominant force on the planet today?

Question 75

How have the experiences of Russia differed from that of its Eastern European neighbors since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991? Why?