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

“What in the World?” Quiz – Week of June 24-30, 2018

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Don’t forget to JOIN as a World Affairs Council member (TNWAC.org/join) to be eligible to win the monthly quiz prize.


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

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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

Brandon Darr, Bangkok, Thailand

Drew Lorelli, Washington, DB

Kathy Ingleson, Nashville, TN

Charles Bowers, Nashville, TN

Anthony Campanella, Avola, Italy

Rebecca Stockwell, Knoxville, TN

(If you’re a weekly winner you’ll be entered for the monthly prize drawing but you must be a TNWAC member to win.  TNWAC.org/join )


JUNE 2018 MONTHLY PRIZE

“The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age”

by David E. Sanger

In 2015, Russian hackers tunneled deep into the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee, and the subsequent leaks of the emails they stole may have changed the course of American democracy. But to see the DNC hacks as Trump-centric is to miss the bigger, more important story: Within that same year, the Russians not only had broken into networks at the White House, the State Department, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but had placed implants in American electrical and nuclear plants that could give them the power to switch off vast swaths of the country. This was the culmination of a decade of escalating digital sabotage among the world’s powers, in which Americans became the collateral damage as China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia battled in cyberspace to undercut one another in daily just-short-of-war conflict.

The Perfect Weapon is the startling inside story of how the rise of cyberweapons transformed geopolitics like nothing since the invention of the atomic bomb. Cheap to acquire, easy to deny, and usable for a variety of malicious purposes—from crippling infrastructure to sowing discord and doubt—cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists. Two presidents—Bush and Obama—drew first blood with Operation Olympic Games, which used malicious code to blow up Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, and yet America proved remarkably unprepared when its own weapons were stolen from its arsenal and, during President Trump’s first year, turned back on the US and its allies. The government was often paralyzed, unable to threaten the use of cyberweapons because America was so vulnerable to crippling attacks on its own networks of banks, utilities, and government agencies.

Moving from the White House Situation Room to the dens of Chinese government hackers to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger—who broke the story of Olympic Games in his previous book—reveals a world coming face-to-face with the perils of technological revolution. The Perfect Weapon is the dramatic story of how great and small powers alike slipped into a new era of constant sabotage, misinformation, and fear, in which everyone is a target.

About the Author

David E. Sanger is the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times. A 1982 graduate of Harvard College, Sanger has been writing for the Times for 30 years covering foreign policy, globalization, nuclear proliferation, and the presidency.

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 Jun 17-23, 2018

1. Which US official has the lead in implementing the summit agreement signed by President Trump and DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un?

A. National Security Advisor John Bolton
B. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
C. Secretary of State James Mattis
D. Vice President Mike Pence

Correct Response: B. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/world/asia/trump-kim-summit-statement.html

2. The G-7 meeting ended in acrimony when President Trump refused to sign on to the Group’s joint communique in response to this statement.

A. Theresa May said, “Our special relationship cannot stand in the face of belligerence among friends.”
B. Justin Trudeau said, “Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around.”
C. Emmanuel Macron said, “There’s nothing to be gained by diplomacy ruled by fits of anger and throwaway remarks.”
D. Angela Merkel said, “There’s a special place in hell for leaders who cannot treat their allies with respect.”

Correct Response: B. Justin Trudeau said, “Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around.”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/06/10/trudeau_to_trump_canadians_will_not_be_pushed_around.html

3. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia and including the United States and other Western forces continued air and ground attacks to take the key port city of Hodeidah, Yemen in a bloody conflict that risks touching off a famine affecting millions of civilians. The coalition is battling forces consisting mainly of rebels from THIS Yemeni faction.

A. Yazidi
B. Houthi
C. Daesh
D. Al Shabab

Correct Response: B. Houthi
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-airport/arab-alliance-close-to-capturing-hodeidah-airport-yemen-military-says-idUSKBN1JC04L

4. President Trump reignited prospects for a trade war with THIS country on Friday when his Administration announced $50 billion in new tariffs on 800 imported products. The Commerce Ministry in the target country responded by announcing counter-tariffs “of the same scale and strength.”

A. Canada
B. Germany
C. China
D. France

Correct Response: C. China
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-ministry/trump-sets-tariffs-on-50-billion-in-chinese-goods-beijing-strikes-back-idUSKBN1JB0KC

5. As the EU grapples with how to respond to migrants arriving at Mediterranean ports a new conflict erupted between THIS country and NGOs from Netherland. THIS country banned migrant rescue vessels from landing at its ports and an official from one of the NGOs called the right-wing deputy prime minister a “fascist.” THIS country is demanding the Netherlands recall their flagged vessels from the area.

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

Correct Response: C. Italy
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-italy/italy-demands-netherlands-recall-ngo-migrant-rescue-ships-idUSKBN1JC0GW

6. This nation has been involved in a naming dispute with Greece since it broke away from former Yugoslavia in 1991. This week the two governments agreed to a new name that will open the way for THIS country to join the EU and NATO.

A. North Macedonia
B. North Albania
C. North Kosovo
D. North Skopje

Correct Response: North Macedonia
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-macedonia-name-protests/greek-police-fire-teargas-to-protesters-over-macedonia-deal-idUSKBN1JC0RG

7. At the Singapore summit with DPRK Chairman Kim, President Trump said the US would stop “wargames” in the Korean Peninsula saying such exercises were expensive and provocative. How many US troops did he say were based in South Korea?

A. 10,000
B. 32,000
C. 55,000
D. 86,000

Correct Response: B. 32,000
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/trump-north-korea-military-exercises/index.html

8. The President of Afghanistan offered to extend an Eid ceasefire with the Taliban that permitted them to enter government controlled areas despite critics who said there were no mechanisms in place to control Taliban breaches of the agreement. Who is the President of Afghanistan?

A. Ashraf Ghani
B. Hamid Karzai
C. Abdullah Abdullah
D. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar

Correct Response: A. Ashraf Ghani
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-taliban/taliban-roaming-afghan-cities-amid-eid-euphoria-rule-out-ceasefire-extension-idUSKBN1JD02Z

9. The world’s 1.5 billion Muslims celebrated Eid al Fitr, among the most festive periods on the Islamic calendar, marked by large feasts, family time, charitable donations and acts of kindness. What event on the Islamic calendar period does Eid al Fitr commemorate.

A. The end of the Hajj, the Islamic Pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam.
B. The end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and reflection.
C. The observance of Islamic new year.
D. The observance of Laylat al Miraj, marking the journey of the Prophet to Jersualem.

Correct Response: B. The end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and reflection.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/15/world/gallery/eid-al-fitr-2018-intl/index.html

10. FIFA, the world’s soccer governing body, announced on Wednesday where the 2026 World Cup of soccer would be held. The winning bid was:

A. England
B. Mexico, Canada, United States
C. Brazil
D. Spain and Portugal

Correct Response: B. Mexico, Canada, United States
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/sports/world-cup/fifa-2026-vote-north-america-morocco.html

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