2022 World Affairs Council of the Year
Network of Independent World Affairs Councils of America
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LAST WEEK’S QUIZ WINNERS
Deb Monroe, Cambridgeshire, UK
Pat Miletich, Nashville, TN
Allan Ramsaur, Nashville, TN
Stephen Friedberg, Jamaica Plain, MA
Yezzie Dospil, Nashville, TN
WELL DONE!
Judy from Houston, thanks for your feedback. We like hearing “Great questions.” Stephen in Mass, yes, the “quiz IS fun,” especially when you’re a winner (if you become a member you’re eligible for the monthly prize!). Connie in Illinois, if last week was a “bad week for |your| brain,” maybe this week will be better. Good quiz luck, all!
Chip from Savannah’s Council, thanks for the feedback. We appreciate knowing the “What in the World?” Weekly Quiz is “intellectually stimulating” for your members in this era of more time spent at home.
August 2020 – Quiz Prize Winner
Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography
By Thomas A. Schwartz
We are looking forward to the August release of this book by friend of TNWAC, Dr. Thomas Schwartz, PhD, Distinguished Professor of History at Vanderbilt University.
About the Book
The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger―at least for those who neither revere nor revile him
Over the past six decades, Henry Kissinger has been America’s most consistently praised―and reviled―public figure. He was hailed as a “miracle worker” for his peacemaking in the Middle East, pursuit of détente with the Soviet Union, negotiation of an end to the Vietnam War, and secret plan to open the United States to China. He was assailed from the left and from the right for his indifference to human rights, complicity in the pointless sacrifice of American and Vietnamese lives, and reliance on deception and intrigue. Was he a brilliant master strategist―“the 20th century’s greatest 19th century statesman”―or a cold-blooded monster who eroded America’s moral standing for the sake of self-promotion?
In this masterfully researched biography, the renowned diplomatic historian Thomas Schwartz offers an authoritative, and fair-minded, answer to this question. While other biographers have engaged in hagiography or demonology, Schwartz takes a measured view of his subject. He recognizes Kissinger’s successes and acknowledges that Kissinger thought seriously and with great insight about the foreign policy issues of his time, while also recognizing his failures, his penchant for backbiting, and his reliance on ingratiating and fawning praise of the president as a source of power. Throughout, Schwartz stresses Kissinger’s artful invention of himself as a celebrity diplomat and his domination of the medium of television news. He also notes Kissinger’s sensitivity to domestic and partisan politics, complicating―and undermining―the image of the far-seeing statesman who stands above the squabbles of popular strife.
Rounded and textured, and rich with new insights into key dilemmas of American power, Henry Kissinger and American Power stands as an essential guide to a man whose legacy is as complex as the last sixty years of US history itself.
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Last week’s questions and answers:
WHAT IN THE WORLD QUIZ – WEEK OF August 10-16, 2020
1. The United States conducted drills in the Pacific and Indian Oceans last week with Australia, Japan and India. The four partners are building an alliance known as THIS arrangement that would form an “Asian Arc of Democracy” around China.
A. South East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO)
B. The Arc
C. Alliance of Freedom
D. The Quad
Correct Response: D. The Quad
https://asiatimes.com/2020/07/quad-alliance-forms-arc-of-democracy-around-china/
2. U.S. officials have been concerned about personal data being handled by Byte-Dance, the Chinese firm that owns the popular App TikTok. President Trump has given Byte-Dance 45 days to conclude a sale of TikTok to THIS American corporation.
A. Disney
B. Verizon
C. Microsoft
D. Time Warner
Correct Response: C. Microsoft
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-trump-exclusive/exclusive-trump-to-give-tiktoks-chinese-owner-45-days-to-agree-sale-sources-idUSKBN24Y0UD
3. A day after President Donald Trump floated the idea of delaying the U.S. Presidential election Hong Kong’s chief executive citing the COVID-19 pandemic announced a one-year postponement of September’s legislative election drawing widespread global condemnation. Who is the chief executive of Hong Kong.
A. Carrie Lam
B. Xi Jinping
C. Nathan Law
D. Teresa Cheng Yuek-wah
Correct Response: A. Carrie Lam
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/world/asia/hong-kong-election-delayed.html
4. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel demanded an explanation in a letter to U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman about reports in Brazil that he pressured the government to do a “favor” to aid the reelection of President Trump. A Brazilian congressman told the New York Times that Chapman had conversations about the “electoral calendar during a recent meeting the two had about” THIS matter.
A. Reduction of soybean exports to China, to increase demand from the U.S.
B. A crackdown on Amazon rainforest burning by miners and loggers.
C. Tariff reductions on ethanol, a major export of Iowa.
D. Accept increases in imports of U.S. petroleum.
Correct Response: C. Tariff reductions on ethanol, a major export of Iowa.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/8/1/21350810/us-ambassador-brazil-chapman-favor-ethanol-trump-reelection
5. The Gamaleya Institute announced it would have a COVID-19 vaccine ready for approval by August 10th and there are plans to vaccinate the population in October. The Institute is in THIS country.
A. Russia
B. China
C. United Kingdom
D. Argentina
Correct Response: A. Russia
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/28/europe/russia-coronavirus-vaccine-approval-intl/index.html
6. The Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom warned Beijing would invalidate THIS saying, “If you do not want to be a partner and our friend, and you want to treat China as a hostile power, you will pay the price.”
A. British passports held by Hong Kong citizens enabling up to three million Hong Kongers to move to the UK.
B. The 1997 treaty between the UK and China calling for Hong Kong to be treated as an autonomous region until 2047.
C. Special trade authority allowing the UK to enjoy tariff free trade with Hong Kong.
D. Special residential status for British business people living and working in Hong Kong.
Correct Response: A. British passports held by Hong Kong citizens enabling up to three million Hong Kongers to move to the UK.
https://www.businessinsider.com/hong-kong-china-threatens-to-stop-recognizing-uk-issued-passports-2020-7
7. Iran’s supreme leader told his country on Friday in a televised holiday address that Iran would expand its nuclear program and that it would not negotiated with the United States. He said negotiations would only boost President Trumps reelection chances, “This old man who is in charge in America apparently used negotiations with North Korea as propaganda.” Who is Iran’s supreme leader.
A. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
B. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
C. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
D. Ayatollah Khomeini
Correct Response: A. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/world/asia/iran-khamenei-us-sanctions.html
8. The government of THIS country underreported the impact of COVID-19 according to a BBC investigation which said the actual numbers of infections and deaths were roughly triple the stated numbers. The holy city of Qom was the epicenter of THIS country which was the epicenter of initial infections in the Middle East.
A. Iraq
B. Iran
C. Saudi Arabia
D. Jordan
Correct Response: B. Iran
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53598965
9. Authorities in THIS neighbor of the Russian Federation detained 33 people believed to be fighters from a shadowy paramilitary contractor connected to Putin confidante and oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. The state-run news agency Belta reported they were suspected of terrorism to destabilize THIS country ahead of August 9th presidential election that will see President Alexander Lukashenko in his sixth reelection campaign.
A. Ukraine
B. Kazakhstan
C. Belarus
D. Lithuania
Correct Response: C. Belarus
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/europe/belarus-russia-mercenaries-arrests-intl/index.html
10. The head of Space-X, Elon Musk, recently Tweeted support for a theory that THIS ancient site was built by aliens. A minister from that country invited Musk to visit to see evidence they were man-made.
A. Machu Picchu in Peru
B. Pyramids in Egypt
C. Chichen Itza in Mexico
D. Ephesus in Turkey
Correct Response: B. Pyramids in Egypt
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53627888
Copyright: 2020 Tennessee World Affairs Council
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THANKS TO SOUTHWEST AIRLINES FOR SUPPORT OF ACADEMIC WORLDQUEST 2020
THANKS TO SUSTAINING PARTNER BELMONT UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
THANKS TO SUSTAINING PARTNER NASHVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COUNCIL
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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