“What In The World? Weekly Quiz” – Aug 12-18, 2019

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

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ WINNERS

Pat Miletich, Nashville, TN

Brandon Darr, Philadelphia, PA

Doreen Muller, Holbrook, NY

Steven Shan, Austin, TX

Charles Bowers, Nashville, TN

Yezzie Dospil, Nashville, TN

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AUGUST 2019 MONTHLY QUIZ PRIZE

(Join the World Affairs Council to be eligible to win)

Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe: From the Ancien Régime to the Present Day

By Sheri Berman

At the end of the twentieth century, many believed the story of European political development had come to an end. Modern democracy began in Europe, but for hundreds of years it competed with various forms of dictatorship. Now, though, the entire continent was in the democratic camp for the first time in history. But within a decade, this story had already begun to unravel. Some of the continent’s newer democracies slid back towards dictatorship, while citizens in many of its older democracies began questioning democracy’s functioning and even its legitimacy. And of course it is not merely in Europe where democracy is under siege. Across the globe the immense optimism accompanying the post-Cold War democratic wave has been replaced by pessimism. Many new democracies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia began “backsliding,” while the Arab Spring quickly turned into the Arab winter. The victory of Donald Trump led many to wonder if it represented a threat to the future of liberal democracy in the United States. Indeed, it is increasingly common today for leaders, intellectuals, commentators and others to claim that rather than democracy, some form of dictatorship or illiberal democracy is the wave of the future.

In Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe, Sheri Berman traces the long history of democracy in its cradle, Europe. She explains that in fact, just about every democratic wave in Europe initially failed, either collapsing in upon itself or succumbing to the forces of reaction. Yet even when democratic waves failed, there were always some achievements that lasted. Even the most virulently reactionary regimes could not suppress every element of democratic progress. Panoramic in scope, Berman takes readers through two centuries of turmoil: revolution, fascism, civil war, and – -finally — the emergence of liberal democratic Europe in the postwar era. A magisterial retelling of modern European political history, Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe not explains how democracy actually develops, but how we should interpret the current wave of illiberalism sweeping Europe and the rest of the world.

About Sheri Berman

Sheri Berman is a professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University.  Her research interests include European history and politics; the development of democracy; populism and fascism; and the history of the left.  She has written about these topics for a wide variety of scholarly and non-scholarly publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and VOX.  She currently serves on the boards of the Journal of Democracy, Dissent and Political Science Quarterly.  Her most recent book, Democracy and Dictatorship: From the Ancien Regime to the Present Day, is published by Oxford University Press.

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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 AUGUST 5-11, 2019

1. A royal decree issued in Saudi Arabia this week now allows women in the kingdom to do THIS:

A. Hold a passport and travel without the permission of a male guardian
B. Attend college
C. Drive
D. Vote in municipal and parliamentarian elections

Correct Response: A. Hold a passport and travel without the permission of a male guardian
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49201019

2. Attorney Pedro Pierluisi became governor of Puerto Rico this week, but his term in office might be very short, due to THIS factor. Mr. Pierluisi was hand picked to be secretary of state by outgoing governor Ricardo Roselló, a position that made him next in line to lead the island after Mr. Roselló resigned in disgrace:

A. Mr. Pierluisi was not born in Puerto Rico, a requirement for anyone who holds the office of governor
B. Mr. Pierluisi advised the federally created board overseeing Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy, a board despised by most Puerto Ricans
C. Mr. Pierluisi is also being investigated as part of Chatgate
D. Puerto Rico’s Senate has yet to confirm Mr. Pierluisi’s nomination

Correct Response: D. Puerto Rico’s Senate has yet to confirm Mr. Pierluisi’s nomination
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-puertorico/puerto-rico-has-new-governor-but-his-stay-may-be-short-idUSKCN1US13R

3. The Partial Ban on Face-Covering Clothing Act took effect in the Netherlands. The ban makes it illegal for men or women to cover their faces in public buildings such as schools and hospitals, and on public transportation. Any person refusing to comply with orders to remove a face covering can be fined up to 150 euros. Which of the following problems has already emerged as a challenge to the new ban?

A. Large protests have broken out in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in reaction to the ban
B. Several Arab countries have recalled their ambassadors from Amsterdam to protest the ban, seen largely as a way to stifle Muslim identity
C. Dutch security officials have announced that they will not enforce the ban
D. The ban is a direct violation of the European Union’s Charter of Civil Rights

Correct Response: C. Dutch security officials have announced that they will not enforce the ban
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-the-netherlands-burqa-ban-takes-effect-police-and-transport-officials-refuse-to-enforce-it/2019/08/01/a91fb648-b461-11e9-acc8-1d847bacca73_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9ede02ae8fb9

4. Police in Moscow arrested almost 700 people for participating in a banned protest rally, another episode in the ongoing civil unrest in the Russian capital following the government’s decision to do THIS:

A. Ban all social media across the country
B. Exile opposition leader Alexei Navalny
C. Prevent opposition candidates from running in upcoming Moscow municipal elections
D. All of the above

Correct Response: C. Prevent opposition candidates from running in upcoming Moscow municipal elections
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/03/russian-police-detain-opposition-leader-lyubov-sobol

5. A long-standing dispute over compensation for forced labor during war time has escalated tensions between South Korea and Japan, and led to Japan’s announcement this week that it was removing South Korea from its “White List.” What benefits do the 27 nations—soon to be 26—on Japan’s White List enjoy?

A. No visa requirements for citizens of White List nations who visit or do business in Japan
B. Open and free sharing of intelligence information, which helps offset international tensions with China and North Korea
C. Preferred, trusted trading partner status, which facilitates the flow of goods between the two countries
D. All of the above

Correct Response: C. Preferred trusted trading partner status, which facilitates the flow of goods between the two countries
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49201707

6. In response to growing international condemnation of its policy of holding Muslim minorities in re-education detention camps, Chinese officials announced that most of the detainees had been released back in to society. Activist and human rights groups have not been able to find wide-spread evidence to support the Chinese government’s claim. The majority of those detained in the camps belong to THIS Turkic-speaking ethnic group:

A. Rohingya
B. Uighur
C. Yazidi
D. Druze

Correct Response: B. Uighur
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/world/asia/china-xinjiang.html

7. An important Cold-War era arms treaty between the U.S. and Russia collapsed this week after each side blamed the other for violating it. The treaty, signed in 1987, banned the use of certain ground-launched cruise missiles. The end of treaty, officially known by THIS name, stoked fears of a new arms race between the two nations:

A. Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF
B. Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty, or SALT
C. Chemical Weapons Ban
D. Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War

Correct Response: A. Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/02/747525453/historic-arms-control-treaty-ends-with-washington-and-moscow-blaming-each-other

8. American students who studied at THIS elite university in China have been questioned by the FBI to determine whether or not Chinses spy agencies had tried to recruit them:

A. Tsinghua
B. Yenching
C. Fudan
D. Nanjing

Correct Response: B. Yenching
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/01/746355146/american-graduates-of-chinas-yenching-academy-are-being-questioned-by-the-fbi

9. Bangladesh is suffering a record outbreak of THIS mosquito-borne illness, with over 13,000 new cases diagnosed in July alone. The disease in question is not usually fatal, and its symptoms include high fever, a skin rash, and severe headaches:

A. Malaria
B. West Nile virus
C. Dengue fever
D. Chikungunya

Correct Response: C. Dengue fever
https://www.npr.org/2019/07/31/747012629/bangladesh-reports-more-than-13-000-dengue-cases-in-july

10. The concept of “border” took on a new meaning this week as architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello set up a series of see-saws that used the wall along the border between THESE two nations as their fulcrum, allowing people on each side to play with each other:

A. North and South Korea
B. Germany and France
C. Mexico and the United States
D. Palestine and Israel

Correct Response: C. Mexico and the United States
https://www.npr.org/2019/07/30/746612462/see-saw-diplomacy-lets-people-play-together-along-u-s-border-wall

COPYRIGHT 2019, Tennessee World Affairs Council

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THE MISSION of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Tennessee World Affairs Council is to promote international awareness, understanding and connections to enhance the region’s global stature and to prepare Tennesseans to thrive in our increasingly complex and connected world.

THE VISION of  the Tennessee World Affairs Council is a well-informed community that thinks critically about the world and the impact of global events.   

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