“What In The World? Weekly Quiz” – Mar 23-29, 2020

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“Empire of Democracy: The Remaking of the West Since the Cold War”

by Simon Reid-Henry

The first panoramic history of the Western world from the 1970s to the present day, Empire of Democracy is the story for those asking how we got to where we are.

Half a century ago, at the height of the Cold War and amidst a world economic crisis, the Western democracies were forced to undergo a profound transformation. Against what some saw as a full-scale “crisis of democracy”— with race riots, anti-Vietnam marches and a wave of worker discontent sowing crisis from one nation to the next— a new political-economic order was devised and the postwar social contract was torn up and written anew.

In this epic narrative of the events that have shaped our own times, Simon Reid-Henry shows how liberal democracy, and western history with it, was profoundly reimagined when the postwar Golden Age ended. As the institutions of liberal rule were reinvented, a new generation of politicians emerged: Thatcher, Reagan, Mitterrand, Kohl. The late twentieth century heyday they oversaw carried the Western democracies triumphantly to victory in the Cold War and into the economic boom of the 1990s. But equally it led them into the fiasco of Iraq, to the high drama of the financial crisis in 2007/8, and ultimately to the anti-liberal surge of our own times.

The present crisis of liberalism enjoins us to revisit these as yet unscripted decades. The era we have all been living through is closing out, democracy is turning on its axis once again. As this panoramic history poignantly reminds us, the choices we make going forward require us first to come to terms with where we have been.

About the Author

1. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the new “epicenter” of the Covid-19 pandemic was HERE.

A. South Korea
B. India
C. Africa
D. Europe

Correct Response: D. Europe

2. On Sunday THIS country reported about 8,000 people infected and 300 dead from Covid-19 as it followed the lead of Italy in ordering a total shutdown of unnecessary activities in the country.

A. Germany
B. Spain
C. Austria
D. Finalnd

Correct Response: B. Spain
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/world/coronavirus-world-response.html

3. The United States added THIS European country to the “Shengen” countries travel ban and IT in turn warned its citizens against travel to America.

A. Switzerland
B. Germany
C. United Kingdom
D. Ireland

Correct Response: C. United Kingdom
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/world/coronavirus-news.html

4. Global crude oil supplies are now in what’s called “super cantango,” a situation where future prices are higher than today’s prices and where the over supply of the market exceeds storage capacity that incentivizes producers to sell at discount prices. The crude oil crash resulted from a production and price war between THESE TWO countries.

A. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
B. Russia and Venezuela
C. Saudi Arabia and the United States
D. Russia and Saudi Arabia

Correct Response: D. Russia and Saudi Arabia
https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/oil-price-track-worst-week-financial-crisis-coronavirus-market-war-2020-3-1028994418

5. The existing tensions between Washington and Beijing have accelerated over the Covid-19 pandemic reactions on both sides. Last week Beijing lashed out at U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo’s ““despicable practice” of referring to Covid-19 as THIS.

A. China virus
B. Wuhan virus
C. Shanghai virus
D. Beijing virus

Correct Response: B. Wuhan virus
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3075272/clash-titans-how-coronavirus-became-new-china-us-battleground

6. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin gave THIS Blue and White Party leader about one month to assemble a ruling coalition after a slight majority of the parliament give HIM their support.

A. Bibi Netanyahu
B. Ehud Olmert
C. Benny Gantz
D. Ehud Barack

Correct Response: C. Benny Gantz
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-politics/israels-president-tasks-netanyahu-rival-gantz-with-forming-government-idUSKBN2131DI

7. U.S. forces retaliated against Iran-backed militia in Iraq by bombing five targets in air strikes following THIS provocation on Wednesday.

A. Launch of a should-fired anti-air missile against U.S. Army helicopters involved in anti-ISIS operations.
B. IEDs deployed in American convoy routes damaging three vehicles.
C. Rocket attack against Taji airbase killing two Americans and a British soldier.
D. An ambush attack by gunmen against NATO trainers in Tikrit.

Correct Response: C. Rocket attack against Taji airbase killing two Americans and a British soldier.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/world/middleeast/iraq-military-us-airstrike.html

8. By a 383-0 vote in the Russian parliament, the Duma, THIS constitutional reform passed its third reading and will go to the public for a referendum on April 22nd.

A. A new constitutional provision allowing Russian presidents to rule by decree.
B. A change allowing four consecutive terms for Presidents clearing the way for Putin to rule through 2036.
C. A change to the constitution allowing the Russian Federation to reclaim sovereignty over former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
D. A change to the constitution renaming the Russian Federation as the Federation of Near Abroad Russian States.

Correct Response: B. A change allowing four consecutive terms for Presidents clearing the way for Putin to rule through 2036.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/russia-alters-constitution-to-keep-vladimir-putin-in-power-until-2024

9. A tenuous cease-fire is in place between Turkey and Russia over THIS disputed area.

A. The sea claim abutting the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
B. The Idlib province of Syria.
C. The Crimean Peninsula
D. The Turkish buffer zone in northern Iraq.

Correct Response: B. The Idlib province of Syria.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/16/whats-happening-world-besides-coronavirus-pandemic/

10. Two political rivals for the presidency of Afghanistan both claimed victory and established parallel governments complicating the pursuit of a peace agreement with the Taliban. Who are the two officials claiming to be President of Afghanistan?

A. Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah
B. Abdurrashid Dostam and Hamid Karzai
C. Ashraf Ghani and Hamid Karzai
D. Abdullah Abdullan and Ashraf Ghani

Correct Response: D. Abdullah Abdullan and Ashraf Ghani
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/standoff-between-afghan-president-ghani-and-rival-abdullah-threatens-peace-deal/2020/03/15/41d4e8e8-6657-11ea-8a8e-5c5336b32760_story.html

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