2022 World Affairs Council of the Year
Network of Independent World Affairs Councils of America

“What in the World?” Quiz – Week of Aug 20-26, 2017

Check your global affairs awareness with these ten questions taken from the week’s news reports provided via @TNWAC #TNWACquiz.

The only rule is to use the ‘honor system.’

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Keep up with global current events by following the World Affairs Council on Twitter @TNWAC. #TNWACquiz

QUIZ WINNERS FROM LAST WEEK

Mike Bush, Nashville, TN
Monesha Ostine, Madison, TN
Sydnee Blaor, Nashville, TN 
Pat Miletich, Nashville, TN
Charles Bowers, Nashville, TN
Pratik Yedla, Huntsville, AL

AUGUST “WHAT IN THE WORLD?” QUIZ PRIZE *

ASIA’S RECKONING

Richard McGregor

Richard McGregor’s Asia’s Reckoning is a compelling account of the widening geopolitical cracks in a region that has flourished under an American security umbrella for more than half a century. The toxic rivalry between China and Japan, two Asian giants consumed with endless history wars and ruled by entrenched political dynasties, is threatening to upend the peace underwritten by Pax Americana since World War II. Combined with Donald Trump’s disdain for America’s old alliances and China’s own regional ambitions, east Asia is entering a new era of instability and conflict. If the United States laid the postwar foundations for modern Asia, now the anchor of the global economy, Asia’s Reckoning reveals how that structure is falling apart.

With unrivaled access to archives in the United States and Asia, as well as to many of the major players in all three countries, Richard McGregor has written a tale that blends the tectonic shifts in diplomacy with bitter domestic politics and the personalities driving them. It is a story not only of an overstretched America, but also of the rise and fall and rise of the great powers of Asia. The about-turn of Japan—from a colossus seemingly poised for world domination to a nation in inexorable decline in the space of two decades—has few parallels in modern history, as does the rapid rise of China—a country whose military is now larger than those of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and southeast Asia’s combined.

The confrontational course on which China and Japan are set is no simple spat between neighbors: the United States would be involved on the side of Japan in any military conflict between the two countries. The fallout would be an economic tsunami, affecting manufacturing centers, trade routes, and political capitals on every continent. Richard McGregor’s book takes us behind the headlines of his years reporting as the Financial Times’s Beijing and Washington bureau chief to show how American power will stand or fall on its ability to hold its ground in Asia.

About the Author

Richard McGregor is a journalist and an author with extensive experience in reporting from east Asia and Washington. A 2015 fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., his work has appeared in the International Herald Tribune and Foreign Policy and he has appeared on the Charlie Rose show, the BBC, and NPR. His previous book, The Party, won numerous awards, including the 2011 Asia Society book of the year and the Asian book of the year prize from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun.

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*Must be a TNWAC Member to win.  See www.TNWAC.org/join for membership info.


To get in on the quiz make sure you’re getting TNWAC emails (here’s the free subscription link: http://eepurl.com/gt6dn) and make sure you’re following @TNWAC on Twitter.

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

Week of Aug 13-Aug 19, 2017

1. Beginning in May 2018, five weekly non-stop flights will connect Nashville International Airport with London’s Heathrow Airport. Which airline will offer the flights?

A. American
B. Delta
C. Virgin Atlantic
D. British Airways

Correct Answer: D. British Airways
http://www.nashvillepost.com/business/transportation/aviation/article/20971853/nashville-lands-flight-to-london

2. South African President Jacob Zuma survived his seventh no-confidence vote by the nation’s parliament, despite the defection of some members of his own party, the African National Congress (ANC). What characteristic of this latest no-confidence vote made it different from the six that preceded it?

A. It was a roll-call vote
B. It was observed by South Africa’s supreme court
C. It was a secret-ballot vote
D. It was a referendum on the ANC

Correct Answer: C. It was a secret-ballot vote
http://time.com/4891912/south-africa-jacob-zuma-baleka-mbete/

3. Following the deaths of two teenage girls, Nepal’s Supreme Court has outlawed the practice of chaupadi, stating that those convicted of it will face prison time or fines. What is chaupadi?

A. Banishing menstruating women from the home
B. Stoning women accused of adultery
C. Female circumcision
D. Force-feeding brides-to-be a month before their weddings

Correct Answer: A. Banishing menstruating women from the home
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/10/nepal-outlaws-custom-of-exiling-women-during-their-periods

4. U.S. president Donald Trump warned North Korea against new provocations, threatening “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” In response, Pyongyang announced a detailed plan to launch missiles aimed at waters off the coast of which U.S. territory?

A. Midway Islands
B. Guam
C. American Samoa
D. Jarvis Island

Correct Answer: B. Guam
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/10/north-korea-details-guam-strike-trump-load-of-nonsense

5. Despite accusations of improprieties and incorrect results, Uhuru Kenyatta, the incumbent president of THIS African nation, has been declared the winner in his bid for re-election.

A. Rwanda
B. Angola
C. Liberia
D. Kenya

Correct Answer: D. Kenya
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40905379

6. The contamination of THIS agricultural product with fipronil grew this week as samples taken from 15 European nations and Hong Kong tested positive for the insecticide, which can damage humans’ kidneys, liver, and thyroid if consumed in large quantities.

A. Milk
B. Eggs
C. Butter
D. Cheese

Correct Answer: B. Eggs
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40896899

7. One day after US diplomats reported suffering from strong headaches and hearing loss possibly caused by a covert sonic device, a Canadian diplomat also stationed in THIS country has reported the same symptoms.

A. Venezuela
B. Costa Rica
C. Cuba
D. Peru

Correct Answer: C. Cuba
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40894444

8. Forty people were killed and scores more injured when one passenger train crashed into the back of another one outside THIS Egyptian city.

A. Giza
B. Luxor
C. Cairo
D. Alexandria

Correct Answer: D. Alexandria
http://www.npr.org/2017/08/11/542836059/train-crash-in-egypt-kills-more-than-40-people

9. In the face of continued dry conditions and excessive heat that threaten to prolong the worst fire season on record, officials from THIS nation asked the EU for help battling wildfires that continue to flare up.

A. Spain
B. Italy
C. Portugal
D. Greece

Correct Answer: C. Portugal
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-portugal-fire-idUKKCN1AT0HH

10. In the process of excavating a hut used by British explorer Robert Falcon Scott in Antarctica, conservators with the Antarctic Heritage Trust found a tin filled with THIS food. After opening the tin, the conservators said that the item in question still “smelled edible.”

A. Baked beans
B. Vegemite
C. Chocolate
D. Fruitcake

Correct Answer: D. Fruitcake
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40907084


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