“What in the World? Weekly Quiz” | August 16-22, 2021

A global affairs awareness service provided by the
Tennessee World Affairs Council

CLICK IMAGE FOR QUIZ

Thanks to quiz masters Merry Holland and Patrick Ryan and @TNWAC News Editor Campbell Lahman for this week’s quiz.

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LAST WEEK’S QUIZ WINNERS

David Hillinck, Huntsville, AL
Steve Lawrence, Morristown, TN
Catherine Kelly, Nashville, TN
Tim Stewart, Nashville, TN
Joseph Mendenhall, Bedford, TX
Patricia Miletich, Nashville, TN
Ron Zipfel, Peoria, IL
Basil Smith, Jacksonville, FL
Peter Sharadin, Blandon, PA
Myles Elledge, Sewanee, TN
Tim Douglas, Nashville, TN
Angela Weck, Peoria, IL
Patricia Paiva, Nashville, TN
Charles Bowers, Nashville, TN
Don Samford, Eureka, IL

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Be a member to be eligible for the quiz prize.

August 2021 – Quiz Prize

2034: A Novel of the Next World War

Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Starvidis, USN

From two former military officers and award-winning authors, a chillingly authentic geopolitical thriller that imagines a naval clash between the US and China in the South China Sea in 2034—and the path from there to a nightmarish global conflagration.

On March 12, 2034, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is on the bridge of her flagship, the guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones, conducting a routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea when her ship detects an unflagged trawler in clear distress, smoke billowing from its bridge. On that same day, US Marine aviator Major Chris “Wedge” Mitchell is flying an F35E Lightning over the Strait of Hormuz, testing a new stealth technology as he flirts with Iranian airspace. By the end of that day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Sarah Hunt’s destroyer will lie at the bottom of the sea, sunk by the Chinese Navy. Iran and China have clearly coordinated their moves, which involve the use of powerful new forms of cyber weaponry that render US ships and planes defenseless. In a single day, America’s faith in its military’s strategic pre-eminence is in tatters. A new, terrifying era is at hand.

So begins a disturbingly plausible work of speculative fiction, co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO, a legendary admiral who has spent much of his career strategically outmaneuvering America’s most tenacious adversaries. Written with a powerful blend of geopolitical sophistication and human empathy, 2034 takes us inside the minds of a global cast of characters–Americans, Chinese, Iranians, Russians, Indians–as a series of arrogant miscalculations on all sides leads the world into an intensifying international storm. In the end, China and the United States will have paid a staggering cost, one that forever alters the global balance of power.

Everything in 2034 is an imaginative extrapolation from present-day facts on the ground combined with the authors’ years working at the highest and most classified levels of national security. Sometimes it takes a brilliant work of fiction to illuminate the most dire of warnings: 2034 is all too close at hand, and this cautionary tale presents the reader a dark yet possible future that we must do all we can to avoid.

 

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1. The Tokyo Summer Olympics has closed. Athletes from around the globe competed in 339 medal events in 33 sports in a competition delayed a year by Covid-19. The next Summer Olympics is set for THIS city in 2024. (#WACquiz)

A. London
B. Athens
C. Paris
D. Sydney

Correct Response: C. Paris
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2021/08/08/olympics-closing-ceremony-live-updates-summer-games-tokyo/5528617001/

2. There’s a new president in Iran. THIS hardline cleric, possible successor to Supreme Leader Khamenei, takes office from Hassan Rouhani as the country faces a battered economy and new tensions with the U.S. and the UK over a drone strike in the Arabian Sea. (#WACquiz)

A. Mohammed bin Salman
B. Michel Aoun
C. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
D. Ebrahim Raisi

Correct Response: D. Ebrahim Raisi
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-58097195

3. A year after a major blast in the port of Beirut, THIS country continues to struggle against its corrupt state institutions as inflation rates continue to rise to the point that citizens can no longer afford basic foods and medicines, forcing some families to flee on rafts across the Mediterranean. Much like neighboring Syria, many analysts are beginning to refer to this country’s as a ‘failed state’ due to its deteriorating economic situation. (WACA WWNU)

A. Jordan
B. Lebanon
C. Iran
D. Morocco

Correct Response: B. Lebanon
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/31/a-year-after-beirut-blast-lebanon-sinks-deep-into-mire-of-corruption
(Weekly World News Update)

4. A series of wildfires recently broke out in THIS country, starting on the country’s second largest island, Evia, and the fires eventually even burned at ancient Olympia in the Peloponnese, the home of the first Olympic games. (#WACquiz)

A. Italy
B. Albania
C. Greece
D. Tunisia

Correct Response: C. Greece
Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/blaze-sweeps-through-athens-suburbs-fifth-day-greece-wildfires-2021-08-07/

5. A provisional government is set to replace the military council, led by Min Aung, that has run THIS southeast Asian country since the military coup on February 1st of this year. This transition of power is said to be in preparation for the process of international recognition of the country’s governance, but many criticize that it will not be any less oppressive than the current military leadership in place. (#WACquiz)

A. Pakistan
B. Thailand
C. Myanmar
D. Cambodia

Correct Response: C. Myanmar (Burma)
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-shadow-government-condemns-army-ruler-taking-pm-role-2021-08-02/

6. A new report on climate change is a “code red for humanity” according to UN Secretary General Guterres who said, “If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe. I count on government leaders and all stakeholders to ensure COP26 is a success. COP26 is a global summit set for THIS city in November. (#WACquiz)

A. London
B. Bangkok
C. Glasgow
D. Berlin

Correct Response: C. Glasgow
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58130705

7. The Taliban offensive continued to sweep across Afghanistan with government forces losing control of a major provincial capital, seven border crossings and other territory. The rapid advances of Taliban forces has THIS northern neighbor worried, leading to increased military drills and closer relations with Moscow. (#WACquiz)

A. Tajikistan
B. Pakistan
C. Kazakhstan
D. Bhutan

Correct Response: A. Tajikistan
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58119886

8. Families of victims of the 9/11 attacks called on President Biden to declassify documents they claim show a role of THIS country’s leaders. The families and first responders sent a letter to Biden calling on him to stay away from 20th anniversary observances if he doesn’t release the material. (#WACquiz)

A. Egypt
B. Iran
C. Saudi Arabia
D. Pakistan

Correct Response: C. Saudi Arabia
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/6/9-11-families-pressure-biden-to-declassify-us-files-on-saudi

9. Fox News host Tucker Carlson visited Budapest to broadcast his show last week featuring conversations with THIS authoritarian government leader. Carlson’s rosy appraisal of his rule is at odds with European Union critics who cite his backsliding on democracy and corruption. (#WACquiz)

A. Janos Ader
B. Klaus Iohannis
C. Viktor Orban
D. Andrzej Duda

Correct Response: C. Viktor Orban
https://nyti.ms/3lLQja9

10. President Kais Saied’s recent decision to dismiss the country’s prime minister and suspend parliament seems to come as a reaction to widespread discontent with the Islamic Democratic Ennahdha political party in THIS country. Rached Ghannouchi, the party’s leader and the parliament speaker was the most outspoken against Saied’s decision, calling his actions a “coup.” (#WACquiz)

A. Tunisia
B. Morocco
C. Baluchistan
D. Tajikistan

Correct Response: A. Tunisia
Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/3/defining-moment-whats-next-for-tunisias-ennahdha
(#WACquiz)

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