“What in the World? Weekly Quiz” | November 20, 2023

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Thanks to our quiz question writers this week: Sam Waitt, Lucy Love Haman, Tim Douglas, Celeste Wilson, Jim Shepherd and Ashton Jolley

Last Week’s Quiz Winners

Kathy Ingleson, Nashville, TN
Pratik Yelda, Huntsville, AL
Martha Trammell, Nashville, TN
Abby Lizotte, Saco, ME
Keeton Chestnut, Cypress, TX
Patricia Miletich, Ventura, CA
Nick McCall, Knoxville, TN
Elmedina Brkic, Louisville, KY
Hannah Osborne, Chapel Hill, TN
Seth Osborne, Chapel Hill, TN 

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Of the scores of weekly winners eligible for the end of the month prize, only five candidates are TNWAC members, eligible for the prize. Join today to be eligible for next month’s prize.

NOVEMBER QUIZ PRIZE

“Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine”

Gen. David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts

“Conflict: The Evolution of History from 1945 to Ukraine” is here — and so is this great review in the “The Wall Street Journal,” with particularly notable final sentences. Excerpts:

‘Conflict’
Review: How Wars Are Fought and Won
By Jonathan W. Jordan

As Europe’s first big cross-border land war since World War II grinds through its second year and a mass terror raid sparks memories of the Yom Kippur War, a top-to-bottom look at how wars are fought in the era of Pax Atomica has become grimly relevant.

“Conflict” brings together one of America’s top military thinkers and Britain’s pre-eminent military historian… Retired Gen. David Petraeus, who co-authored the U.S. Army’s field manual on counterinsurgency warfare and oversaw the troop surge in Iraq in 2007, brings a professional eye to politico-military strategy. Andrew Roberts, who has been writing on military leadership since the early 1990s, offers an “arc of history” approach to the subject of mass destruction. The pair’s ambitious goals: to provide some context to the tapestry of modern conflict and a glimpse of wars to come.

Invoking the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, the authors argue that the first job of a strategic leader is to get the big ideas right. Those who have succeeded include Gerald Templer… whose reference to winning “the hearts and minds of the people,” we are told, “remains the most succinct explanation for how to win a counter-insurgency.” By contrast, the nationalist forces in China, the French in Algeria and the Americans in Vietnam got the big ideas wrong and paid a steep price.

The longest chapters, narrated in the first person by Mr. Petraeus, cover Iraq and Afghanistan, where political dysfunction swamped military success. On the 2021 collapse of Afghanistan’s government troops, Mr. Petraeus remarks that “the troops were brave enough—the 66,000 dead Afghan soldiers killed during the war attest to that. But they fought for an often corrupt and incompetent government that never gained the trust and confidence of local communities…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 serves as the book’s case study on how badly Goliath can stumble against David…

The final chapter teases out the contours of future conflicts…

For all its technical erudition, “Conflict” is remarkably readable. Mr. Roberts’s engaging prose softens the edges of Mr. Petraeus’s straight-shooting analysis…

The book was written before the recent outbreak of war on Israel’s southern border… As gunmen ride to massacre scenes in pickup trucks and precision missiles take to the air in response, the authors’ introductory caveat snaps into focus: “Warfare evolves; it does not ossify. Yet it is clearly also capable of being suddenly and shockingly thrown into reverse.”..

Timely, engaging and instructive, “Conflict” is the best one-volume study of conventional warfare in the nuclear age. It sets a new benchmark in understanding modern war.

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1. U.S. forces carried out a so-called “self-defense strike” against a weapons storage facility and a command-and-control center in THIS country after recent attacks by Iranian proxies in the region that have wounded dozens of American troops.

A. Iraq
B. Syria
C. Jordan
D. Iran

Correct response: B. Syria
https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-launches-3rd-strikes-iran-backed-groups-amid/story?id=104834330

2. British PM Rishi Sunak bolstered the stability of his government with the appointment as foreign minister THIS former prime minister whose time in office was marked by the decision to move forward with Brexit.

A. Boris Johnson
B. David Cameron
C. Theresa May
D. Tony Blair

Correct Response: B. David Cameron
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-13/sunak-brings-ex-pm-david-cameron-into-uk-cabinet-in-shock-move

3. Joe Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of THIS annual APEC meeting in San Francisco to seek stability in the relationship.

A. 21 member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
B. 8 member Asia Petroleum Exporting Countries
C. 16 member Asia-Americas Peaceful-Coexistence Community
D. 35 member Association of Pacific Ecological Concern

Correct response: A. 21 member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
https://apnews.com/article/biden-xi-apec-china-taiwan-cfd0b5a708a3506c4438e43b1b26c93d

4. In a move underscoring the current nadir of the bilateral relationship, the National Zoo in Washington, DC returned THESE animals to THIS country.

A. Jaguars to Mexico
B. Bengal Tigers to India
C. Grey Wolves to Turkey
D. Pandas to China

Correct response: D. Pandas to China
https://www.reuters.com/world/washingtons-national-zoo-says-bye-bye-beloved-giant-pandas-2023-11-08/

5. Prime Minister Orban, Prime Minister of THIS country said the EU must not start membership negotiations with Ukraine, signaling a veto as EU leaders plan to consider a European Commission recommendation to invite Kyiv to membership talks. Orban has been openly anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia.

A. Hungary
B. Slovakia
C. Croatia
D. Romania

Correct response: A. Hungary
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/10/ukraine-war-live-updates-latest-news-on-russia-and-the-war-in-ukraine.html

6. Hamas leaders consulted with officials in THIS country which has launched a propaganda campaign against Israel. However, they have not yet recalled their ambassador from Israel over the war in Gaza.

A. South Africa
B. Turkey
C. Chile
D. Russia

Correct response: Russia
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/these-8-countries-have-pulled-ambassadors-from-israel-amid-hamas-war/ar-AA1jv7Jd

7. The prime minister of THIS country is escalating censorship in this troubled democracy to counter criticism of him and the ruling BJP party and tighten his grip on power.

A. Slovenia
B. Tunisia
C. Malta
D. India

Correct Response: D. India
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/08/india-twitter-online-censorship/

8. Russia made final its withdrawal from THIS treaty signed a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall which aimed to limit certain categories of weapons held by NATO and the then-Warsaw Pact. Moscow blamed NATO expansion for their decision to withdraw.

A. Battlefield Weapons Limitation Treaty
B. Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty
C. Intermediate-Range Forces Treaty
D. Peace in Europe Disarmament Treaty

Correct response: B. Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-formally-withdraws-key-post-cold-war-european-armed-forces-treaty-2023-11-07/

9. The Prime Minister of THIS country extended amnesty to Catalan separatists in exchange for political support. This will likely allow him to stay in power but cause turmoil throughout the country and concern in European capitals.

A. Spain
B. France
C. Portugal
D. Germany

Correct Response – A. Spain
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/world/europe/spain-catalonia-separatists-pedro-sanchez.html

10. A series of earthquakes has rattled THIS country, and its government has ordered the evacuation of one town fearing a major volcanic eruption around the Reykjanes peninsula.

A. Greenland
B. Italy
C. Iceland
D. Indonesia

Correct response: C. Iceland
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67387827

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