“What in the World?” Quiz – Week of July 9-15, 2017

Note: Beginning in July the end of month quiz prize winner will be chosen from among the weekly winners who are members of the Tennessee World Affairs Council  — one more benefit of membership. To become a supporting member of the World Affairs Council visit TNWAC.org/join. Thanks!

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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QUIZ WINNERS FROM LAST WEEK

  

Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans
by James Stavridis

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JULY “WHAT IN THE WORLD?” QUIZ PRIZE

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A dual biography of Winston Churchill and George Orwell, who preserved democracy from the threats of authoritarianism, from the left and right alike.

Both George Orwell and Winston Churchill came close to death in the mid-1930’s—Orwell shot in the neck in a trench line in the Spanish Civil War, and Churchill struck by a car in New York City. If they’d died then, history would scarcely remember them. At the time, Churchill was a politician on the outs, his loyalty to his class and party suspect. Orwell was a mildly successful novelist, to put it generously. No one would have predicted that by the end of the 20th century they would be considered two of the most important people in British history for having the vision and courage to campaign tirelessly, in words and in deeds, against the totalitarian threat from both the left and the right. In a crucial moment, they responded first by seeking the facts of the matter, seeing through the lies and obfuscations, and then they acted on their beliefs. Together, to an extent not sufficiently appreciated, they kept the West’s compass set toward freedom as its due north.

It’s not easy to recall now how lonely a position both men once occupied. By the late 1930’s, democracy was discredited in many circles, and authoritarian rulers were everywhere in the ascent. There were some who decried the scourge of communism, but saw in Hitler and Mussolini “men we could do business with,” if not in fact saviors. And there were others who saw the Nazi and fascist threat as malign, but tended to view communism as the path to salvation. Churchill and Orwell, on the other hand, had the foresight to see clearly that the issue was human freedom—that whatever its coloration, a government that denied its people basic freedoms was a totalitarian menace and had to be resisted.

In the end, Churchill and Orwell proved their age’s necessary men. The glorious climax of Churchill and Orwell is the work they both did in the decade of the 1940’s to triumph over freedom’s enemies. And though Churchill played the larger role in the defeat of Hitler and the Axis, Orwell’s reckoning with the menace of authoritarian rule in Animal Farm and 1984 would define the stakes of the Cold War for its 50-year course, and continues to give inspiration to fighters for freedom to this day. Taken together, in Thomas E. Ricks’s masterful hands, their lives are a beautiful testament to the power of moral conviction, and to the courage it can take to stay true to it, through thick and thin.

About the Author

Thomas E. Ricks is an adviser on national security at the New America Foundation, where he participates in its “Future of War” project. He was previously a fellow at the Center for a New American Security and is a contributing editor of Foreign Policy magazine, for which he writes the prizewinning blog The Best Defense. A member of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, he covered U.S. military activities in Somalia, Haiti, Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Kuwait, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He is the author of several books, including The Generals, The Gamble, and the number one New York Times bestseller Fiasco, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

More information and ordering

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 July 2-8, 2017

1. A U.S. Navy warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island on Sunday in THIS body of water, most of which is claimed by China, to demonstrate freedom of navigation. Many of the region’s countries have claims to islands in the area. China has constructed artificial land masses and militarized some of their claimed islands to bolster their position that is rejected by the United States.

A. Yellow Sea
B. East China Sea
C. West China Sea
D. None of the above

Correct answer: D. None of the above. (South China Sea)
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/07/02/exclusive-pentagon-sails-destroyer-near-disputed-island-in-south-china-sea-officials-say.html

2. Five Chechen men were convicted in Russia for the murder of THIS former deputy prime minister and critic of Vladimir Putin who was shot in 2015 while walking near the Kremlin. His daughter, however, says the case is not solved until those responsible for ordering the killing are brought to justice, “”People in Russia and in the world are convinced of the political background to the murder, and our [the Russian] investigation and the court deny the obvious.”

A. Sergei Magnitsky
B. Boris Nemtsov
C. Boris Berezovsky
D. Anna Politkovskaya

Correct answer: B. Boris Nemtsov
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/29/europe/russia-boris-nemtsov-murder-verdict/index.html

3. The diplomatic row among Qatar and its Arab Gulf neighbors is entering a new phase with the passing of a deadline for Doha to yield to 13 demands. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading the isolation of Qatar and have threatened further sanctions, beyond breaking relations, if the demands are not met. The demands include all of these EXCEPT:

A. Reduce ties with Iran.
B. Shut down Turkish military base in Qatar.
C. Shut down American military base in Qatar.
D. Shut down Al Jazeera television.

Correct answer: C. Shut down American military base in Qatar.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/arab-states-issue-list-demands-qatar-crisis-170623022133024.html

4. Canada celebrated a milestone anniversary on Saturday. When was the Dominion of Canada formed?

A. 1817
B. 1867
C. 1897
D. 1917

Correct answer: B. 1867
https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/06/economist-explains-24

5. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security ordered a ban on carrying THIS onboard aircraft bound for America in March from certain countries in the Middle East and Africa. A worldwide ban was being considered but last week DHS Secretary Kelly said while nothing would change regarding bringing THIS on planes there would be tighter security measures on flights to the United States.

A. Pocket knives
B. Liquid containers larger than one ounce
C. Cell phones
D. Laptops

Correct answer: D. Laptops
https://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2017/06/carry-working

6. In a press conference with newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in last week President Trump said the U.S. policy toward North Korea would no longer be THIS:

A. “Strategic Patience”
B. “Determined Response”
C. “Limited Engagement”
D. “Multilateral Negotiations”

Correct answer: A. “Strategic Patience”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40465751

7. President Xi Jinping warned that activities threatening China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong were “absolutely impermissible” as he visited the semi-autonomous region Saturday marking the 20th anniversary of its handover from THIS power:

A. France
B. Great Britain
C. United States
D. Portugal

Correct answer: B. Great Britain
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-s-president-xi-jinping-hong-kong-bears-down-dissent-n778806

8. Rogue police officers dropped grenades on the Supreme Court and fired on the Interior Ministry from a helicopter last Tuesday in THIS CITY as protests against the government continued.

A. Caracas, Venezuela
B. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
C. Bangkok, Thailand
D. Bogata, Colombia

Correct answer: A. Caracas, Venezuela
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/28/world/americas/venezuela-nicolas-maduro-supreme-court-helicopter-attack.html

9. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front Party and presidential candidate recently defeated by Emmanual Macron, faced THIS new challenge last week.

A. Disbarment by the French Bureau of Attorneys.
B. National Front loss of seats in French parliamentary elections.
C. Investigation into presidential election collusion with Russia.
D. European Parliament charges over misuse of payroll funds.

Correct answer: D. European Parliament charges over misuse of payroll funds.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/world/europe/france-marine-le-pen-national-front-charges-investigation.html

10. The U.S. Government began enforcing Executive Order 13780 on June 29th following a U.S. Supreme Court decision to permit most of President Trump’s controversial travel ban from six majority Muslim countries. The Executive Order is formally known as:

A. Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
B. Temporary Restrictions on Travel from State Sponsors of Terrorism Nations
C. Measures to Restrict Entry of Citizens from Suspect Countries
D. Limitations on Failed States’ Citizens Entry and Residency

Correct answer: A. Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/06/272281.htm

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