“What In The World?” Quiz – Nov 12-18, 2018

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NOVEMBER 2018 MONTHLY QUIZ WINNERS’ PRIZE

The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy by Stephen M. Walt

From the New York Times–bestselling author Stephen M. Walt, The Hell of Good Intentions dissects the faults and foibles of recent American foreign policy―explaining why it has been plagued by disasters like the “forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan and outlining what can be done to fix it.

In 1992, the United States stood at the pinnacle of world power and Americans were confident that a new era of peace and prosperity was at hand. Twenty-five years later, those hopes have been dashed. Relations with Russia and China have soured, the European Union is wobbling, nationalism and populism are on the rise, and the United States is stuck in costly and pointless wars that have squandered trillions of dollars and undermined its influence around the world.

The root of this dismal record, Walt argues, is the American foreign policy establishment’s stubborn commitment to a strategy of “liberal hegemony.” Since the end of the Cold War, Republicans and Democrats alike have tried to use U.S. power to spread democracy, open markets, and other liberal values into every nook and cranny of the planet. This strategy was doomed to fail, but its proponents in the foreign policy elite were never held accountable and kept repeating the same mistakes.

Donald Trump won the presidency promising to end the misguided policies of the foreign policy “Blob” and to pursue a wiser approach. But his erratic and impulsive style of governing, combined with a deeply flawed understanding of world politics, are making a bad situation worse. The best alternative, Walt argues, is a return to the realist strategy of “offshore balancing,” which eschews regime change, nation-building, and other forms of global social engineering. The American people would surely welcome a more restrained foreign policy, one that allowed greater attention to problems here at home. This long-overdue shift will require abandoning the futile quest for liberal hegemony and building a foreign policy establishment with a more realistic view of American power.

Clear-eyed, candid, and elegantly written, Stephen M. Walt’s The Hell of Good Intentions offers both a compelling diagnosis of America’s recent foreign policy follies and a proven formula for renewed success.

Source: Amazon

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We’ll post the answers and the names of the winner(s) in next week’s quiz.

Here’s last week’s questions and answers:

WHAT IN THE WORLD? QUIZ

NOVEMBER 5-11, 2018

1. Protestors in Pakistan blocked streets and burned cars, bringing the country to a standstill this week. Rioters were expressing their opposition to the Supreme Court acquittal of 47-year-old Asia Bibi, a Christian woman convicted in 2010 of THIS crime, which carries the death penalty:

A. Murder
B. Blasphemy
C. Adultery
D. Theft

Correct Response: B. Blasphemy
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/01/asia-bibi-anti-blasphemy-protests-spread-across-pakistan

2. THIS head of state—often called “the world’s most powerful woman”—announced this week that she would not seek re-election when her current term ends in 2021:

A. Theresa May of the United Kingdom
B. Michelle Bachelet of Chile
C. Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar
D. Angela Merkel of Germany

Correct Response: D. Angela Merkel of Germany
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/29/angela-merkel-wont-seek-re-election-as-cdu-party-leader

3. In a landmark ruling that will end hundreds of arrests each year, South Korea’s highest court ruled that men have the right to refuse to do THIS for religious reasons:

A. Enter in to arranged marriages
B. Serve in the military
C. Divorce
D. Pay financial support for children born out of wedlock

Correct Response: B. Serve in the military
https://www.apnews.com/52376f4619c44048b913fd667f22a7ce

4. The pharmaceutical company Merck announced that it is ending a long-term agreement to sell its rotavirus vaccine at a reduced price to countries in West Africa because it can now sell the same vaccine in China, at a much higher price. There’s no cure for rotavirus, which attacks THIS system in the body, and which currently kills about 200,000 children each year in West Africa:

A. Digestive
B. Respiratory
C. Nervous
D. Endocrine

Correct Response: A. Digestive
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/11/01/655844287/merck-pulls-out-of-agreement-to-supply-life-saving-vaccine-to-millions-of-kids

5. The U.S. Secretary of Defense called for a cease-fire in Yemen, stating that the United Nations is arranging talks between the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels. Who is the current U.S. Secretary of Defense?

A. Mike Pompeo
B. James Mattis
C. John Bolton
D. Nikki Haley

Correct Response: B. James Mattis
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/30/yemen-peace-talks-james-mattis-saudi-arabia-houthi

6. Thousands of employees all over the world walked off their jobs at THIS tech giant to protest the company’s mishandling of sexual assault allegations:

A. Facebook
B. Twitter
C. Google
D. Instagram

Correct Response: C. Google
https://www.apnews.com/6f64ff8a62b5413e8f0a44d3cf281f02

7. President Salva Kiir, speaking in Juba, the capital of THIS country, offered his nation an apology for the five-year civil war that’s torn it apart. Mr. Kiir also praised the fragile cease-fire that came from a power-sharing deal that he signed with rebel factions:

A. Syria
B. Yemen
C. South Sudan
D. Sri Lanka

Correct Response: C. South Sudan
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/oct/31/south-sudan-celebrates-new-peace-accord-amid-joy-and-scepticism

8. Denmark has recalled its ambassador to THIS country over an alleged government plot to kill an opposition leader living in Copenhagen:

A. Iran
B. Saudi Arabia
C. United States
D. Turkey

Correct Response: A. Iran
https://www.apnews.com/45752216b08b4888b3f73ec64f835062

9. Citing THIS reason, the governor of the Mexican state of Veracruz rescinded an offer of transportation for the approximately 4,000 people in the migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. border. The offer would have provided buses for the migrants to make the 12-hour trip to Mexico City, where they could rest and get medical attention:

A. He received a phone call from the U.S. administration, discouraging him from helping the migrants
B. Mexico City and its suburbs have been without water for most of the last week
C. Not enough buses were available
D. The Mexican government issued an order restricting all further movement of the caravan

Correct Response: B. Mexico City has been without water for most of the last week
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-caravan-veracruz-20181103-story.html

10. As many parts of Latin America celebrated the Day of the Dead on November 1, people in France had the day off in observance of la Toussaint, a day many people honor deceased relatives by placing THESE flowers on their graves. The French associate the flowers in question so closely with death that it’s considered bad manners in France to offer them as a gift:

A. Chrysanthemums
B. Roses
C. Asters
D. Daisies

Correct Response: A. Chrysanthemums
https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Why-chrysanthemums-are-the-French-flower-of-the-dead-at-Toussaint-and-autumn

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