2022 World Affairs Council of the Year
Network of Independent World Affairs Councils of America
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.’
Click on image for Quiz
Keep up with global current events by following the World Affairs Council on Twitter @TNWAC. #TNWACquiz
QUIZ WINNERS FROM LAST WEEK
David Hillinck
Pratik Yedla
Charles Bowers
Elaine Loughlin
MARCH PRIZE FOR THE WHAT IN THE WORLD? QUIZ
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon
by Rosa Brooks
The first serious book to examine what happens when the ancient boundary between war and peace is erased.
Once, war was a temporary state of affairs—a violent but brief interlude between times of peace. Today, America’s wars are everywhere and forever: our enemies change constantly and rarely wear uniforms, and virtually anything can become a weapon. As war expands, so does the role of the US military. Today, military personnel don’t just “kill people and break stuff.” Instead, they analyze computer code, train Afghan judges, build Ebola isolation wards, eavesdrop on electronic communications, develop soap operas, and patrol for pirates. You name it, the military does it.
Rosa Brooks traces this seismic shift in how America wages war from an unconventional perspective—that of a former top Pentagon official who is the daughter of two anti-war protesters and a human rights activist married to an Army Green Beret. Her experiences lead her to an urgent warning: When the boundaries around war disappear, we risk destroying America’s founding values and the laws and institutions we’ve built—and undermining the international rules and organizations that keep our world from sliding towards chaos. If Russia and China have recently grown bolder in their foreign adventures, it’s no accident; US precedents have paved the way for the increasingly unconstrained use of military power by states around the globe. Meanwhile, we continue to pile new tasks onto the military, making it increasingly ill-prepared for the threats America will face in the years to come.
By turns a memoir, a work of journalism, a scholarly exploration into history, anthropology and law, and a rallying cry, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything transforms the familiar into the alien, showing us that the culture we inhabit is reshaping us in ways we may suspect, but don’t really understand. It’s the kind of book that will leave you moved, astonished, and profoundly disturbed, for the world around us is quietly changing beyond recognition—and time is running out to make things right.
Source: Amazon.com
About the Author
Rosa Brooks is a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, a columnist for Foreign Policy, and a law professor at Georgetown University. She previously worked at the Pentagon as Counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; in 2011, she was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Brooks has also served as a senior advisor at the US Department of State, a consultant for Human Rights Watch, and a weekly opinion columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Her articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post,The Wall Street Journal, and dozens of other newspapers and magazines, and she is a frequent television guest, with appearances on the Charlie Rose Show, the Rachel Maddow Show, the Today show, Meet the Press, and Erin Burnett OutFront. Brooks lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband Joe, her daughters Anna and Clara, and a Brittany spaniel named Scout.
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 Mar 19-25, 2017
1. On March 20, 2017 FBI Director James Comey publicly confirmed an ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election campaigns. The Russian Government’s cyber activities targeting the campaign were first released in October 2016 by THESE officials:
A. National Security Advisor Susan Rice and FBI Director James Comey
B. FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers
C. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and ODNI Director James Clapper
D. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and CIA Director John Brennan
Correct Answer: C. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and ODNI Director James Clapper
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/intelligence-committee-russia-donald-trump.html
2. An official from the British signals intelligence agency labeled “utterly ridiculous” the charges leveled by the White House that it was involved in “wiretapping” Trump Tower in New York during the 2016 election. What is THAT agency known as?
A. GCHQ
B. UK-NSA
C. British Signal Corps Headquarters
D. SigComm
Correct Answer: A. GCHQ
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/17/us-makes-formal-apology-britain-white-house-accuses-gchq-wiretapping/
3. The United Kingdom will officially launch the British exit (BREXIT) process from the European Union on March 29 following last June’s referendum using THIS mechanism:
A. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty
B. Article 10 of the Rome Treaty
C. Amendment 4 to the Schengen Treaty
D. Article 5 of the Maastricht Treaty
Correct Answer: A. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-article-idUSKBN16R143
4. China recently hosted leaders from THESE countries demonstrating Beijing’s interest in advancing its engagement in the Middle East.
A. Iran and UAE
B. Qatar and Iran
C. Turkey and Israel
D. Israel and Saudi Arabia
Correct Answer: D. Israel and Saudi Arabia
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-israel-idUSKBN16R0XX
5. The Defense Minister of this NATO member said on Sunday that President Trump was incorrect in asserting in a Tweet that it “owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides.” The Tweet came a day after a meeting between the two countries leaders.
A. Poland
B. Germany
C. United Kingdom
D. Iceland
Correct Answer: B. Germany
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-germany-defence-idUSKBN16Q0D8
6. A “large-scale initiative to build energy, highway, and port infrastructure to deepen economic connections between China” and THIS country was launched in 2013 for such a corridor and relations were elevated two years later to an “all weather strategic partnership.”
A. India
B. Afghanistan
C. Kazakhstan
D. Pakistan
Correct Answer: D. Pakistan
http://carnegietsinghua.org/2016/12/21/benefits-and-risks-of-china-pakistan-economic-corridor-pub-66507
7. The Dutch voted on March 15th to keep Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) holding off a strong effort by the anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) led by THIS politician who is seen as among the vanguard of the far-right movement in Europe.
A. Marine Le Pen
B. Geert Wilders
C. Henk Krol
D. Emile Roemer
Correct Answer: B. Geert Wilders
http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/68293
8. President Trump was critical of defense spending levels on the part of some NATO allies in the past and reiterated that concern following a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. What is the expectation for defense spending among NATO members?
A. 2% of GDP
B. 5% of GDP
C. 9% of GDP
D. None of the above.
Correct Answer: A. 2% of GDP
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/world/europe/angela-merkel-trump-germany.html
9. The Secretary General of the United Nations told the Commission on the Status of Women last week that women’s rights are human rights — and attacks on women are attacks on all of us. Who is the Secretary General of the United Nations?
A. Ban Ki-moon
B. Nikki Haley
C. Andrzej Duda
D. Antonio Guterres
Correct Answer: D. Antonio Guterres
http://webtv.un.org/watch/united-nations-secretary-generals-town-hall-with-civil-society-3-17-2017/5363085358001
10. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson traveled to Japan, South Korea and China last week without the traditional press representation resulting in criticism about access from the media. There was one reporter from THIS conservative outlet who did an interview with Tillerson in which he said, “I’m not a big media access person.” Who did the reporter represent?
A. Breitbart
B. Wall Street Journal
C. Independent Journal Review
D. Fox News
Correct Answer: C. Independent Journal Review
http://ijr.com/2017/03/827413-transcript-independent-journal-reviews-sit-interview-secretary-state-rex-tillerson
We need and appreciate your support of
the World Affairs Council.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @TNWAC
THANKS TO THE TNWAC WEEKLY QUIZ PARTNERS
THANKS TO THE SPONSORS OF THE TENNESSEE
ACADEMIC WORLDQUEST PROGRAM – FEDEX
The Tennessee World Affairs Council is a nonprofit (501c3), nonpartisan educational charity based in Nashville that works to build understanding of global issues in our communities. Learn more about the Council and find how you can join, donate and volunteer at: www.TNWAC.org —
