A global affairs awareness service provided by the
Tennessee World Affairs Council
CLICK IMAGE FOR QUIZ
Thanks to quiz master Keira Larson for this week’s quiz.
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ WINNERS
Patrick Higgins, Nashville, TN
Jim Shepherd, Nashville, TN
Leslie Fort, Waxahachie, TX
Tim Stewart, Nashville, TN
Catherine Kelly, Nashville, TN
Aashni Jain, Washington, DC
Charles Bowers, Nashville, TN
Roger French, Washington, IL
Patricia Paiva, Nashville, TN
Julia Lydon, Nashville, TN
David Hillinck, Huntsville, AL
Steve Freidberg, Boston, MA
Joseph Mendenhall, Bedford, TX
Rich Buck, Peoria, IL
Nancy Williams, Rochester, NY
Beth O’Brien, Washington, IL
Barbara Gubbin, Jacksonville, FL
Shannon McNamara, Tunis
Basil Smith, Jacksonville, FL
Genia G., Berlin
Yezzie Dospil, Nashville, TN
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June 2021 – Quiz Prize
Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, At Home and Abroad
John O. Brennan, Former Director of the CIA
In this brutally honest memoir, Brennan, the son of an Irish immigrant who settled in New Jersey, describes the life that took him from being a young CIA recruit enamored with the mystique of spy work, secretly defiant enough to drive a motorcycle and sport a diamond earring, and invigorated by his travels in the Middle East to being the most powerful individual in American intelligence. He details his experiences with very different presidents and what it’s been like to bear responsibility for some of the nation’s most crucial and polarizing national security decisions.
He pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of the Agency, describing the selfless, patriotic, and invisible work of the women and men involved in national security. He also examines the insularity, arrogance, and myopia that have, at times, undermined its reputation in the eyes of the American people and of members of other branches of government. Through topics ranging from George W. Bush’s intervention in Iraq to his thoughts on the CIA’s controversial use of enhanced interrogation techniques to his eye-opening account of the planning of the raid that resulted in Bin Ladin’s death to his realization that Russia had interfered with the 2016 election, Brennan brings the reader behind the scenes of some of the most crucial moments in recent U.S. history. He also candidly discusses the times he has failed to live up to his own high standards and the very public fallouts that have resulted. With its behind-the-scenes look at how major U.S. national security policies and actions unfolded during his long and distinguished career—especially during his eight years in the Obama administration—John Brennan’s memoir is a work of history with strong implications for the future of America and our country’s relationships with other world powers.
Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad offers a rare and insightful look at the often-obscured world of national security, the intelligence profession, and Washington’s chaotic political environment. But more than that, it is a portrait of a man striving for integrity; for himself, for the CIA, and for his country.
John O. Brennan was one of President Obama’s most trusted national security advisors during all eight years of the Obama Administration, first as assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism and then as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Brennan had previously worked in the CIA from 1980 to 2005, where he specialized in Middle Eastern affairs and counterterrorism and served as President Clinton’s daily intelligence briefer. Mr. Brennan received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fordham University in 1977 and a master’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980.
LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
What in the World? Quiz – Week of June 21-27, 2021
1. President Joe Biden said there was no substitute for a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and he came away from last week’s summit in Geneva saying he did what he needed to do. What did the conflictive leaders agree to work on?
A. Demilitarization of contested areas of Ukraine
B. Cybersecurity and arms control
C. Extension of the New Start treaty
D. An end to Russian arms sales to Iran
Correct Response: B. Cybersecurity and arms control
https://www.reuters.com/world/wide-disagreements-low-expectations-biden-putin-meet-2021-06-15/
2. Iran chose a president to succeed Hassan Rouhani in an election marked by low turnout among voters who saw the result predetermined. The new President of Iran is THIS hardline cleric who has “a record of human rights abuses, including accusations of playing a role in the mass execution of political opponents in 1988,” according to the New York Times.
A. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
B. Ali Khamenei
C. Ebrahim Raisi
D. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Correct Response: C. Ebrahim Raisi
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/world/middleeast/iran-election-president-raisi.html
3. President Biden and NATO leaders met in Brussels last week and issued a communique noting for the first time THIS nation’s “stated ambitions and assertive behavior present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order.”
A. Russian Federation
B. Iran
C. China
D. Turkey
Correct Response: C. China
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/disagreements-flare-among-nato-allies-despite-relief-at-bidens-arrival/2021/06/14/3b7b0f6c-cd09-11eb-a7f1-52b8870bef7c_story.html
4. The UN General Assembly voted a second term for THIS Secretary General who called for a new era of “solidarity and equality,” and promised to make fighting the Covid-19 pandemic his top priority.
A. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
B. Antonio Guterres
C. Edward Milliband
D. Sahle-Work Zewde
Correct Response: B. Antonio Guterres
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094282
5. Despite antagonisms rising from Biden calling THIS NATO country’s leader an autocrat and labeling a century old mass killing and deportation of Armenians as genocide, that president said there was no issue between him and Biden that could not be resolved.
A. Poland
B. North Macedonia
C. Hungary
D. Turkey
Correct Response: D. Turkey
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/14/erdogan-says-held-fruitful-sincere-talks-with-biden
6. America’s problematic partner Pakistan has been strategically important to U.S. covert operations in next-door Afghanistan. Last week THIS Pakistani Prime Minister, whose military has close ties with the Taliban, categorially ruled out future use of its territory for counterterrorism missions in Afghanistan after the September 11th American withdrawal.
A. Imran Khan
B. Ashraf Ghani
C. Ebrahim Raisi
D. Bilawal Bhutto
Correct Response: A. Imran Khan
https://www.axios.com/imran-khan-interview-cia-afghanistan-bases-2225eb96-65b5-405a-951a-7ce47a3497b8.html
7. The prospect of China gaining ground in the aviation supply chain prompted U.S. and European leaders to resolve THIS dispute that had led to tariffs and acrimony for decades.
A. General Electric-Rolls Royce
B. Lockheed-Airbus
C. SpaceX-Virgin
D. Boeing-Airbus
Correct Response: D. Boeing-Airbus
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/world/europe/joe-biden-vladimir-putin-usa-russia.html
8. The World Health Organization (WHO) head Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the end of THIS disease outbreak in Guinea, “thanks to the lessons learned … and new vaccines.”
A. Ebola
B. SARS-CoV-2
C. Bird Flu
D. Anthrax
Correct Response: A. Ebola
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/who-expects-guinea-announce-end-ebola-outbreak-saturday-2021-06-18/
9. Israel resumed air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza following THIS provocation.
A. Infiltration of sappers to set bombs at Israeli checkpoints.
B. Rockets launched against Jerusalem.
C. Mortar fire into nearby Israeli towns.
D. Launching of balloon-borne incendiary devices.
Correct Response: D. Launching of balloon-borne incendiary devices.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57523206
10. “We’re still seeing [Covid-19] cases across the country and we want to get them down,” said THIS Prime Minister of Canada, as the border restrictions for Americans was extended to July 21st.
A. Justin Trudeau
B. Bill Blair
C. Chrystia Freeland
D. Pierre Trudeau
Correct Response: A. Justin Trudeau
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-canada-border-restrictions-extended-until-july-21/2021/06/18/082ebf44-d044-11eb-a224-bd59bd22197c_story.html
Copyright 2021, Tennessee World Affairs Council
A PROUD MEMBER OF THE WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCILS OF AMERICA SINCE 2007
THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS IN GLOBAL AFFAIRS AWARENESS AND EDUCATION OUTREACH
THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS IN GLOBAL AFFAIRS AWARENESS AND EDUCATION OUTREACH
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.
