Civics Trivia Questions for College Students — page 3

The president's principal civilian adviser on the military is the

• Asecretary of state.
• Bdirector of the CIA.
• Cnational security adviser.
• Dsecretary of defense.

What is the implication of American exceptionalism in terms of global economics?

• AIt encourages nationalization
• BIt encourages redistribution of wealth
• CIt encourages liberalization of global trade
• DIt encourages the use of tariffs

In what way did the George W Bush administration change the direction of US foreign policy?

• AIt increased international support for the United States
• BIt criticized international organizations, rather than trying to strengthen them
• CIt focused on a more personal style of leadership
• DIt expanded NATO to include former Soviet states

What was the significance of the Truman Doctrine?

• AIt indicated US reluctance to get involved in incidents outside of its immediate sphere of influence
• BIt indicated that the US would now view all local revolts through a geopolitical lens
• CIt indicated the special place of Greece and Turkey in American interests
• DIt was Truman's first statement on European affairs

What tend to be the effects of oil and other natural resource trade on developing states?

• AIt encourages stability of the regime
• BIt has no real effect
• CIt democratizes countries
• DIt changes the nature of the investor

Historically, what has been the general pattern of defense spending in the United States?

• AIncreased spending during wars, with demobilization bringing spending down but not back to prewar levels
• BIncreased spending during wars, with further increases after the war to prepare for future engagements.
• CSteady increases over time.
• DUnpredictable fluctuations.

What drives US foreign policy according to the Marxist perspective?

• AEconomic protectionism
• BSuperstructure
• CClass consciousness
• DThe search for new markets

Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none'. Identify the speaker.

• AAbraham Lincoln
• BJames Madison
• CWoodrow Wilson
• DThomas Jefferson

The largest increase in peacetime defense spending in American history occurred under which president?

• ADwight Eisenhower
• BBill Clinton
• CJimmy Carter
• DRonald Reagan

Why did Americans believe that they could found a different kind of empire after 1776?

• AThis empire would be multi-cultural
• BThis would be an 'empire of liberty'
• CThis type of empire would be based on expansion
• DThis would be empire free of slavery

What did the Moscow Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions do?

• AProhibited short-range nuclear weapons
• BProhibited the acquisition of new military bases
• CRequired the United States and Russia to demobilize their armies
• DRequired the United States and Russia to dismantle a significant number of their nuclear weapons

What was meant by the term 'New World Order'?

• AA new era of globalization
• BA new democratic internationalism led by the United States
• CA new global economic framework
• DA new balance of power between the US and China

The cooperative international organization of 185 countries designed to stabilize the exchange of currencies and the world economy is

• AUNICEF.
• Bthe International Monetary Fund.
• Cthe United Nations.
• Dthe World Bank.

What has been an effective way of disbursing US foreign aid to encourage change in target states?

• AConditional programs, such as the Millennium Challenge, that require change before receipt of aid
• Bthe use of intergovernmental organizations to monitor aid disbursement
• CNone of the above, international aid never works
• Dwithdrawal of aid for bad policies

According to realists, what is the fundamental difference between the international system and the domestic system?

• AAnarchy
• BArmed conflict
• CInstitutions
• DNo common language

The government body formed to coordinate American foreign and military policy is known as

• Athe Pentagon.
• Bthe National Security Council.
• Cthe Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Dthe Defense Policy Institute.

Who said "Globalization is not something we can hold off or turn off. It is the economic equivalent of a force of nature-like wind or water"?

• ARonald Reagan
• BGeorge Soros
• CBill Clinton
• DGeorge W. Bush

Which of the following is NOT a good predictor of which states will get nuclear weapons?

• AReceipt of sensitive nuclear assistance
• BWealth/GDP
• CRegime type
• DRivalry with a nuclear state

What was the key difference between US expansion pre- and post- 1865?

• AUS expansion ended after 1865
• BUS expansion was based on territory rather than markets post-1865
• CUS expansion was based on markets rather than territory post-1865
• DUS expansion was limited to Latin America post-1865

The departments of the executive branch that assist the president in designing and carrying out U.S. foreign policy are known as

• Athe National Security Agency.
• Bthe State Department.
• Cthe National Security Council.
• Dthe United Nations.

What was meant by the term 'Rogue States'?

• AStates outside of the 'family of nations'
• BCommunist States
• CThe former Soviet states
• DStates aligned with the USSR during the Cold War

Which of the following considers it immoral to use force abroad to do good things (such human rights protection, democracy, etc)?

• ALiberalism
• BRealism
• CNone of the above
• DIdealism

Why is there so much uncertainty over which states have nuclear weapons?

• ALeaders have incentives to lie
• BIf leaders revealed their programs, they would be more likely to be attacked
• CALL of the above
• DLeaders will not always grant foreign monitors access to their nuclear programs

What was established at Bretton Woods in 1994 to stabilize the global economy?

• AThe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
• BThe US Dollar as the world's reserve currency
• CAll of the above
• DThe International Monetary Fund (IMF)

What are the key elements of the Liberal approach to US foreign policy?

• APromotion of Democracy, free-trade and international institutions
• BThe balance of power, self-sufficiency and prudence
• CAlliances, diplomacy and protectionism
• DNone of the above

Why did Franklin D. Roosevelt initially favour an 'isolationist' stance on the part of the US during the 1930s?

• AHe believed that German domination of Europe would be in US interests
• BHe believed that internal reform rather than international negotiation was the key to economic regeneration of the US
• CHe always favoured isolationism
• DAll of the above

Which of the following points supports the argument for American unilateralism?

• AAll of the above
• BBenevolent hegemony
• CAmerican power
• DIneffectiveness of multilateralism

According to Rosenau, which factor is important to consider in explaining the foreign policy behavior of the United States?

• AAll of the above
• BThe external environment of the international system
• CDomestic environment, government and bureaucracy
• DThe President's individual personality.

According to International Institutionalists, what problems have international institutions been designed to address?

• AAll of the above
• BCollective action and coordination problems
• CAnarchy
• DWar

Why might American exceptionalism lead to opposition to world government?

• ANone of the above
• BIt views world government as impractical
• CIt views the UN as a sufficient form of global governance
• DIts general anti-statism opposes centralized government

Global and regional international trade agreements work by using which of the following mechanisms?

• AReputational concerns of the actors
• BSide payments for adjusting to the organization (such as the Common Agricultural Policy in the EU)
• CALL of the above
• DReciprocity across multiple issues

How did NSC-68 change U.S. strategy?

• AIt militarized containment.
• BIt called for the development of the hydrogen bomb.
• CIt globalized containment.
• DAll of the above

Why did Lincoln oppose the southward expansion of the US?

• AIt would have increased immigration to the US
• BIt would have drained the US economically
• CIt would have involved compromising opposition to slavery
• DNone of the above

Which of the following are possible constraints on US foreign policy decision making?

• AInternational law
• BAll of the above
• CIntergovernmental organizations
• DForeign policies of other states

Which is NOT a reason for why intergovernmental organizations are ineffective at promoting human rights?

• ANone of the above
• BThey cannot get enough information about which leaders will abuse their citizens
• CThese organizations merely identify those states who already support human rights
• DThese organizations have little ability to constrain abusive leaders

Why do Liberal Internationalists argue that international institutions are important to US grand strategy?

• AThey allow the US to withdraw from the international arena
• BNone of the above
• CThe US is incapable of acting alone
• DThey serve American interests

Which of the following considers states to be the primary actors in international relations?

• ARealism
• BNone of the above
• CLiberalism
• DIdealism

What accounted for the US avoidance of catastrophe at the hands of the British in 1814?

• ABritish preoccupation with Europe
• BAll of the above
• CDiplomacy
• DNaval victories

In American government, the power to declare war rests with

• Athe secretary of defense.
• Bthe president of the United States.
• CCongress.
• Dthe chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Why do some scholars claim that Reagan 'won the Cold War'?

• AReagan reduced military spending and this allowed the Soviet Union space to reform
• BReagan encouraged engagement with the Soviet Union
• CReagan's first term military spending pressured the Soviet Union to keep up its international commitments
• DReagan encouraged a softer approach towards communism

According to Realists, what accounts for the onset of the Cold War?

• AThe expansionist nature of the Soviet Union
• BBoth b and c
• CA power vacuum
• DIdeological differences

How do Ideational approaches to US foreign policy during the Cold War differ from Realist accounts of the same period?

• AThey place greater emphasis on economic factors
• BThey place greater emphasis on material interests and power
• CThey place greater emphasis on geopolitics
• DThey place greater emphasis on ideology and beliefs

What was 'democratic enlargement'?

• AA proposal for the extension of democratic rule globally
• BBoth b and c
• CA proposal for the extension of free markets
• DA proposal for reform of the US system of government

Why did George H.W. Bush allow Saddam Hussein to remain in power after the Gulf War of 1991?

• ALimited UN mandate and fear of a protracted conflict
• BDifficult terrain and fear of civilian casualties
• CConcern over oil supplies
• DLack of US firepower

What was the Clinton Administration's policy on the Russian economy?

• AThe US inhibited the marketization of the Russian economy
• BThe US promoted the marketization of the Russian economy
• CThe US supported public ownership of natural resources
• DNone, the US was only concerned with security issues

What were the implications of the Cold War for American exceptionalism?

• AThe extension of American power globally challenged core assumptions of exceptionalism
• BExceptionalism was enhanced by America's status as the 'leader of the free world'
• CIt ended the influence of American exceptionalism entirely
• DBoth b and c

How did World War I shift economic power from Europe to the United States?

• AThe war reduced European population levels below that of the United States
• BThe United States became a creditor country and financial centre, with European war spending boosting the US economy
• CEuropean countries paid the United States for assistance
• DThe United States seized German resources after the war

What did Charles Krauthammer mean by a 'unipolar moment' when describing the post-Cold War system?

• AThe never-ending domination of the United States
• BAn opportunity to use to collapse of the Soviet Union to extend US power
• CAn international system that didn't face any threats
• DThe chance for the United States to share power with other countries in the world

Why is NSC 68 seen as a turning point in US Cold War Foreign policy?

• AIt dispensed with the idea of containment
• BIt indicated a shift towards military containment
• CIt indicated the primacy of economic containment
• DIt indicated a desire to engage with the Soviet Union

The idea that war is "the continuation of politics by other means" helps to capture

• Athe way Democrats and Republicans differ over the war in Iraq.
• Bthe way political parties fight with each other.
• Cdiplomacy is the quietest instrument of influence in global politics.
• Dthe idea that governments use their military to help pursue policy goals.