“What In The World? Weekly Quiz” – Jan 6-12, 2020

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Atlee Tyree, Nashville, TN

David Hillinck, Huntsville, AL

Eleanor I., Brentwood, TN

Charles Bowers, Nashville, TN

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JANUARY 2020 MONTHLY QUIZ PRIZE

Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World

Tim Marshall

In this New York Times bestseller, an award-winning journalist uses ten maps of crucial regions to explain the geo-political strategies of the world powers—“fans of geography, history, and politics (and maps) will be enthralled” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram).

Maps have a mysterious hold over us. Whether ancient, crumbling parchments or generated by Google, maps tell us things we want to know, not only about our current location or where we are going but about the world in general. And yet, when it comes to geo-politics, much of what we are told is generated by analysts and other experts who have neglected to refer to a map of the place in question.

All leaders of nations are constrained by geography. In “one of the best books about geopolitics” (The Evening Standard), now updated to include 2016 geopolitical developments, journalist Tim Marshall examines Russia, China, the US, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Japan, Korea, and Greenland and the Arctic—their weather, seas, mountains, rivers, deserts, and borders—to provide a context often missing from our political reportage: how the physical characteristics of these countries affect their strengths and vulnerabilities and the decisions made by their leaders.

Offering “a fresh way of looking at maps” (The New York Times Book Review), Marshall explains the complex geo-political strategies that shape the globe. Why is Putin so obsessed with Crimea? Why was the US destined to become a global superpower? Why does China’s power base continue to expand? Why is Tibet destined to lose its autonomy? Why will Europe never be united? The answers are geographical. “In an ever more complex, chaotic, and interlinked world, Prisoners of Geography is a concise and useful primer on geopolitics” (Newsweek) and a critical guide to one of the major determining factors in world affairs.

Source: Simon and Schuster

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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 DEC 30, 2019-JAN 5, 2020

1. In June of 2019, Iranian air defense forces shot down a U.S. Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft sparking a serious level of confrontation between Tehran and Washington in the recent round of tensions. The shootdown occurred in THIS location.

A. Southern Persian Gulf
B. Strait of Hormuz
C. Over eastern Hormozgan Province of Iran
D. Bab el Mandeb Strait

Correct Response: B. Strait of Hormuz
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/middleeast/iran-drone-claim-hnk-intl/index.html

2. THIS three-time ambassador — who described the State Department as “attacked and hollowed out from within,” in prepared remarks at a closed-door Congressional hearing — has come into the spotlight in 2019 in the midst of the ongoing whistleblower investigation involving Ukraine.

A. Woody Johnson
B. John Huntsman Jr.
C. Marie Yovanovitch
D. Patricia Mahoney

Correct Response: C. Marie Yovanovitch
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-whistleblower-yovanovitch/abandoning-diplomats-discretion-ex-ukraine-ambassador-takes-trump-to-task-idUSKBN1WQ2TO

3. In what he described a “dangerous and daring” nighttime operation, President Trump announced the death of THIS elusive Islamic State leader in a suicide attack during a U.S. military operation in Syria in October of 2019.
A. Abu Omar al-Shishani
B. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
C. Abu Mohammad al-Adnani
D. Abu Mohammad al-Julani
Correct Response: B. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-forces-launch-operation-in-syria-targeting-isis-leader-baghdadi-officials-say/2019/10/27/081bc257-adf1-4db6-9a6a-9b820dd9e32d_story.html

4. In a rare address to the US Congress marking the 70th anniversary of THIS international organization, THIS organization’s head warned, “We do not want a new arms race. We do not want a new Cold War. But we must not be naïve.”

A. United Nations Secretariat
B. International Atomic Energy Agency
C. North Atlantic Treaty Organization
D. World Trade Organization

Correct Response: C. North Atlantic Treaty Organization
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/04/03/NATO-chief-to-US-Congress-We-must-overcome-our-differences-now/8761554240958/

5. In 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump made history by becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit THIS country, despite the sometimes deep tensions between the two nations.

A. Iran
B. North Korea
C. Cuba
D. Libya

Correct Response: B. North Korea
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-southkorea/trump-to-make-first-visit-to-dmz-in-hope-of-meeting-north-koreas-kim-idUSKCN1TU10D

6. July saw the World Health Organization declare the recent outbreak of THIS disease in Democratic Republic of Congo to be a “public health emergency of international concern,” the highest level of alarm that the WHO can sound.

A. Marburg virus
B. Ebola
C. Zika virus
D. Rift Valley fever

Correct Response: B. Ebola
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49025298

7. As the European Union had a tumultuous year of Brexit negotiations, the political and economic union also held its 2019 parliamentary elections which had the highest voter turnout in two decades. In the elections, THESE groups did surprisingly well, breaking with trends from past elections.

A. Centrist parties
B. Parties with pro-LGBTQ platforms
C. Reformist parties
D. Far-right nationalist and Green parties

Correct Response: D. Far-right nationalist and Green parties
https://www.npr.org/2019/05/27/727293356/4-takeaways-from-the-european-parliament-election-results

8. Over the summer, the Trump administration signed an agreement with the Guatemalan government to do THIS, in an effort to curb the wave of asylum seekers coming into the U.S. While both governments have confirmed the agreement, Guatemala’s highest court had previously ruled that such an agreement could not be signed by the country’s president.

A. Criminalize undocumented migration from Guatemala to the United States
B. Authorize the return of Guatemalan asylum seekers from the US back to Guatemala
C. Require asylum seekers traveling through Guatemala to make their asylum claim there
D. Locate US offices of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency within Guatemala to expedite migration from there to the United States

Correct Response: C. Require asylum seekers traveling through Guatemala to make their asylum claim there
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-07-26/trump-agreement-guatemala-restrict-asylum-claims

9. In one of several violations of the terms of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, from which President Trump withdrew the United States, Iran announced that it did THIS in the fall, raising the stakes for the European countries trying to prevent the deal’s collapse.

A. Activated advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment
B. Opened a new research and development center in Tabriz
C. Rebuilt the Arak heavy water research reactor to maximize production of plutonium
D. Arrested officials from the IAEA in Iran to inspect new reactors

Correct Response: A. Activated advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iran-now-operating-advanced-centrifuges-in-breach-of-nuclear-pact/2019/09/07/68ae6988-d0ae-11e9-a620-0a91656d7db6_story.html

10. Demonstrators in Hong Kong continued regular protests in the streets throughout much of the year, including escalations as pro-democracy supporters marked the fifth anniversary of the birth of the “Umbrella Movement” and just days before THIS important event on the calendar for the People’s Republic of China, the target of Hong Konger protests.

A. The 70th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.
B. The 30th anniversary of the Tianamen Square protests.
C. The 50th anniversary of Peoples Republic of China admission to the UN.
D. The 60th anniversary of China becoming a nuclear power.

Correct Response: A. The 70th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/29/world/asia/hong-kong-protest-china-national-day.html

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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