2022 World Affairs Council of the Year
Network of Independent World Affairs Councils of America
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LAST WEEK’S QUIZ WINNERS
Jaclyn Sheridan, Nashville, TN
Pete Griffin, Nashville, TN
Kathy Ingleson, Brentwood, TN
John Trudel, Nashville, TN
David Hillinck, Huntsville, AL
Seth Emerson, Nashville, TN
Logan Monday, Nashville, TN
Allan Ramsaur, Nashville, TN
Mark Brinkley, Nashville, TN
Charles Bowers, Nashville, TN
Yezzie Dospil, Nashville, TN
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May 2020 Monthly Prize
The World: A Brief Introduction
Richard Haass
President, Council on Foreign Relations
An invaluable primer from Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, that will help anyone, expert and non-expert alike, navigate a time in which many of our biggest challenges come from the world beyond our borders.
Like it or not, we live in a global era, in which what happens thousands of miles away has the ability to affect our lives. This time, it is a Coronavirus known as Covid-19, which originated in a Chinese city many had never heard of but has spread to the corners of the earth. Next time it could well be another infectious disease from somewhere else. Twenty years ago it was a group of terrorists trained in Afghanistan and armed with box-cutters who commandeered four airplanes and flew them into buildings (and in one case a field) and claimed nearly three thousand lives. Next time it could be terrorists who use a truck bomb or gain access to a weapon of mass destruction. In 2016 hackers in a nondescript office building in Russia traveled virtually in cyberspace to manipulate America’s elections. Now they have burrowed into our political life. In recent years, severe hurricanes and large fires linked to climate change have ravaged parts of the earth; in the future we can anticipate even more serious natural disasters. In 2008, it was a global financial crisis caused by mortgage-backed securities in America, but one day it could well be a financial contagion originating in Europe, Asia, or Africa. This is the new normal of the 21st century.
The World is designed to provide readers of any age and experience with the essential background and building blocks they need to make sense of this complicated and interconnected world. It will empower them to manage the flood of daily news. Readers will become more informed, discerning citizens, better able to arrive at sound, independent judgments. While it is impossible to predict what the next crisis will be or where it will originate, those who read The World will have what they need to understand its basics and the principal choices for how to respond.
In short, this book will make readers more globally literate and put them in a position to make sense of this era. Global literacy–knowing how the world works–is a must, as what goes on outside a country matters enormously to what happens inside. Although the United States is bordered by two oceans, those oceans are not moats. And the so-called Vegas rule–what happens there stays there–does not apply in today’s world to anyone anywhere. U.S. foreign policy is uniquely American, but the world Americans seek to shape is not. Globalization can be both good and bad, but it is not something that individuals or countries can opt out of. Even if we want to ignore the world, it will not ignore us. The choice we face is how to respond.
We are connected to this world in all sorts of ways. We need to better understand it, both its promise and its threats, in order to make informed choices, be it as students, citizens, voters, parents, employees, or investors. To help readers do just that, The World focuses on essential history, what makes each region of the world tick, the many challenges globalization presents, and the most influential countries, events, and ideas. Explaining complex ideas with wisdom and clarity, Richard Haass’s The World is an evergreen book that will remain relevant and useful as history continues to unfold.
Here’s last week’s questions and answers:
WHAT IN THE WORLD QUIZ
WEEK OF MAY 4-10, 2020
1. The Chinese Ministry of State Security briefed top leaders including President Xi Jinping that global anti-China sentiment was at its highest since THIS event according to a Reuters exclusive report.
A. 2008 global economic crisis
B. 2002 downing of an American reconnaissance aircraft at Hainan Island
C. 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown
D. 2012 nuclear reactor accident at Chongqing
Correct Response: C. 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-sentiment-ex/exclusive-internal-chinese-report-warns-beijing-faces-tiananmen-like-global-backlash-over-virus-idUSKBN22G19C
2. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of THIS country extended a state of emergency to May 31 based on a steady rate of Covid-19 infections. Abe said, ““May will be a month where we need to end this pandemic. It will also be a month where we will prepare for the next stage.”
A. Thailand
B. Vietnam
C. Japan
D. South Korea
Correct Response: C. Japan
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-japan/japans-abe-extends-state-of-emergency-to-may-31-idUSKBN22G05T
3. A flotilla of American and British warships entered THIS BODY OF WATER for what they called maritime security operations in Arctic conditions. The four US Navy and one Royal Navy vessels were being tracked by Russia’s Northern Fleet.
A. Barents Sea
B. Sea of Okhotsk
C. Baltic Sea
D. Black Sea
Correct Response: A. Barents Sea
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-navy/russia-tracks-u-s-and-british-naval-ships-in-barents-sea-ifax-idUSKBN22G1OE
4. Among the pandemic responses in the U.S. government is an effort to reduce reliance on THIS as indicated by a State Department official who told reporters, “We’ve been working on [reducing the reliance of [THIS]] over the last few years but we are now turbo-charging that initiative.”
A. Medicines from India
B. PPE from the EU
C. China supply chains
D. None of the above
Correct Response: C. China supply chains
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-china/trump-administration-pushing-to-rip-global-supply-chains-from-china-officials-idUSKBN22G0BZ
5. Jacinda Arden, Prime Minister of ONE OF THESE TWO countries said she would participate in an emergency meeting with the cabinet of the OTHER OF THESE TWO countries, a move that signaled a so-called “Trans-Tasman bubble” for bilateral travel could be near.
A. Scotland and Norway
B. Sweden and Finland
C. Australia and New Zealand
D. Germany and Norway
Correct Response: C. Australia and New Zealand
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-australia-newzeala/explainer-australia-and-new-zealand-travel-bubble-in-sight-as-virus-growth-slows-idUSKBN22G0YS
6. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that “there’s enormous evidence” Covid-19 originated in THIS PLACE. On April 30, 2020 the Intelligence Community said it “concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,” and was continuing “to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at” THIS PLACE.
A. Ministry of Infectious Disease Control in Beijing
B. Wuhan Virology Institute
C. Hong Kong Center for Virological Studies
D. Wuhan University Medical Center
Correct Response: B. Wuhan Virology Institute
7. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s hearing for extradition to the United States will resume in September in THIS country after Covid-19 related delays. Assange faces charges in the U.S. stemming from unauthorized publication of thousands of diplomatic cables that Washington claims endangered lives of intelligence sources.
A. Norway
B. Germany
C. United Kingdom
D. Ecuador
Correct Response: C. United Kingdom
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-assange/assanges-u-s-extradition-case-to-resume-in-september-london-court-rules-idUSKBN22G1P9
8. Following several weeks of absence from public events and rumors of being near death this enigmatic leader returned in appearances on May Day.
A. Robert Mugabe
B. Kim Jong un
C. Boris Johnson
D. Cyril Ramaphosa
Correct Response: B. Kim Jong un
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-kim-defectors/north-korea-defectors-criticised-over-speculation-kim-was-ill-or-dead-idUSKBN22G0FS
9. The Israeli Supreme Court heard arguments against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to form a governing coalition because of THIS.
A. His statement about annexation of parts of the West Bank in two months.
B. His indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
C. His support for arrest of Orthodox Jews violating Covid-19 restrictions.
D. None of the above.
Correct Response: B. His indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-politics-netanyahu/netanyahu-fate-at-stake-as-coalition-deal-challenged-in-top-court-idUSKBN22G0XU
10. The recent case of cycling 16 judges through the trial of two women found guilty on charges of terrorism demonstrates the manipulation of the judiciary by the government of THIS Turkish President.
A. Recep Tayyip Erdogan
B. Ahmet Davutoglu
C. Abdullah Gul
D. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Correct Response: A. Recep Tayyip Erdogan
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-judges-specialreport/special-report-how-turkeys-courts-turned-on-erdogans-foes-idUSKBN22G17N
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