Chapter Seventeen
Foreign and Defense Policy: Protecting the American Way
Multiple Choice
1. The foundation for U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union after World War II was
a. détente.
b. unilateralism.
c. containment.
d. internationalism.
2. ________ declared that an iron curtain had fallen across Europe.
a. Winston Churchill
b. Harry Truman
c. Joseph Stalin
d. Neville Chamberlain
3. The basis for containment policy was the assumption that
a. the territorial and ideological ambitions of an aggressor nation can only be blocked by determined opposition.
b. the spread of nuclear weapons is a danger to the world and must be stopped.
c. economic trade should be tailored to benefit the full industrialized nations through the formation of economic communities.
d. an arms race will inevitably escalate and therefore must be stopped through negotiations at an early stage.
4. The U.S. lesson learned from the Vietnam War was that
a. public opinion could be ignored by leaders during wartime.
b. nuclear weapons had utility in a war of insurgency.
c. there were limits on America’s ability to get its own way in the world.
d. the national interest of the United States required a total disengagement from Asian affairs.
5. Regarding Soviet foreign policy, President Harry Truman believed that the Soviet Union was
a. a global threat.
b. a regional threat.
c. not a threat to its neighbors, Europe, or the United States.
d. likely to evolve into a true democracy within a decade.
6. In 2002, President George W. Bush labeled ________ an axis of evil.
a. Cuba, China, and Vietnam
b. Ethiopia, Somalia, and Libya
c. Russia, China, and North Korea
d. Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Jordan
7. The idea that major nations should act together in response to problems and crises is called
a. the one-world concept.
b. détente.
c. multilateralism.
d. internationalism.
8. ________ described the Soviet Union as an evil empire.
a. Richard Nixon
b. Ronald Reagan
c. Bill Clinton
d. Jimmy Carter
9. Which of the following is true about the Iraqi War of 2003?
a. The war made the United States more popular in the Arab states.
b. The war made the United States more popular in Great Britain.
c. The war made the United States more popular in France.
d. The war made the United States more popular in Germany.
10. When President George H. W. Bush called for “a new world order,” he had in mind
a. preemption
b. containment
c. multilateralism
d. deterrence
11. Regarding assistance to developing nations, which of the following countries ranks lowest in terms of per-capita expenditures?
a. Canada
b. Denmark
c. France
d. the United States
12. The United States has had an active policy role in which of the following international organizations?
a. World Bank
b. World Trade Organization (WTO)
c. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
d. United Nations (UN)
13. The policy of deterrence is based on the idea that
a. when threatened, a nation should strike first so that its enemy is deprived of the option of a surprise attack.
b. economic links with another country will deter it from aggression.
c. modern warfare requires a flexible response policy.
d. the best protection against attack by an enemy is the capacity to retaliate with a devastating attack of one’s own.
14. Since the Cold War ended, U.S. policymakers’ concern with nuclear weaponry has shifted to
a. the possibility of a computer error in the U.S. or former Soviet weapons systems that could mistakenly launch a nuclear missile.
b. the spread of nuclear technology to irresponsible regimes and terrorists.
c. the use of a tactical nuclear weapon in ethnic conflicts in eastern Europe.
d. the possibility that, in the process of dismantling the U.S. and former Soviet arsenals, a nuclear warhead could be accidentally detonated.
15. What president warned of the consequences of the military-industrial complex?
a. Dwight Eisenhower
b. Richard Nixon
c. John F. Kennedy
d. Ronald Reagan
16. ________ account for more than half of the economy of the European Union.
a. Scotland, Ireland, and Great Britain
b. Italy, Spain, and Russia
c. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland
d. Great Britain, France, and Germany
17. ________ led the communist takeover of China in 1949.
a. Mikhail Gorbachev
b. Jiang Zemin
c. Chiang Kai-Shek
d. Mao Zedong
18. The military-industrial complex
a. consists of an alliance of the military and industry, which is pitted against officials in Congress and the executive branch.
b. is blamed for high levels of defense spending, although no one knows exactly what proportion of that spending reflects its influence.
c. was specifically mentioned and condemned in Harry S Truman’s Farewell Address.
d. All of the answers are correct.
19. The broad goals of the United States in the global economy include
a. maintaining access to world energy and other vital resources.
b. sustaining an open system of trade that will promote domestic prosperity.
c. keeping the widening gap between the rich and poor countries from destabilizing the global economy.
d. All of the answers are correct.
20. The Marshall Plan was designed to
a. confront the Soviet Union’s military and political threat to West Europe.
b. economically rebuild West Europe.
c. provide a West European market for U.S. goods.
d. feed and shelter the destitute from World War II.
21. Defense spending per capita is highest in
a. the United States.
b. Great Britain.
c. Japan.
d. France.
22. Which of the following is true about the trade imbalance in the United States?
a. The United States has not had a trade surplus since 1975.
b. The United States has run deficits of more than $5 00 billion in recent years.
c. The United States has the worst trade imbalance of the top three economic centers.
d. All of the answers are correct.
23. What is the lesson of Munich?
a. Economics is more important than military might.
b. Military might is more important than economics.
c. Appeasement only encourages further aggression.
d. Containment is not a plausible foreign policy.
24. All of the following countries except ________ opposed America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.
a. Great Britain
b. Germany
c. France
d. Belgium
25. About the position of the United States in world trade, it can be said that
a. the United States has never had a trade surplus.
b. in recent years, the United States has had trade surpluses more than deficits.
c. the United States has the most favorable balance of trade in the world.
d. the United States is a larger market than the European Union.
e. None of the answers are correct.
26. The term that most accurately describes the international economy today is
a. unilateralism.
b. isolationism.
c. interdependence.
d. protectionism.
27. The phrase that best describes the shift in America’s world position from the pre- to the post-World War II eras is
a. internationalism to isolationism.
b. isolationism to internationalism.
c. containment to isolationism.
d. interventionism to isolationism.
28. Which of the following is a true statement regarding the Cold War?
a. It never became an actual shooting war between the United States and the Soviet Union.
b. It was an extension of containment policy.
c. It included U.S. support for governments being threatened by communism.
d. The global power structure was bipolar.
29. ________ took a historic journey to the People’s Republic of China in 1972.
a. Lyndon Johnson
b. Hubert Humphrey
c. George McGovern
d. Richard Nixon
30. Which war was most costly in terms of the number of U.S. soldiers who lost their lives?
a. Korean War
b. Vietnam War
c. Persian Gulf War
d. Kosovo War
31. Which country, in terms of balance of trade and future competition, are U.S. policymakers most worried about?
a. Mexico
b. China
c. Brazil
d. India
32. ________ was created to coordinate domestic efforts to protect the United States against terrorist attacks and threats.
a. The Department of Homeland Security
b. The CIA
c. The FBI
d. The National Security Council
33. One reason why the Soviet Union eventually collapsed was its
a. heavy defense expenditures.
b. isolation from Western markets.
c. inefficient centralized command economy.
d. inability to keep up with Western technological advances.
34. The tripolar economic world consists of
a. the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
b. Japan, China, and the United States.
c. the United States, Japan and China, and the European Union.
d. the United States, Russia, and Brazil.
35. Which is a true statement about the 1990–1991 Gulf War?
a. It was a successful military operation.
b. It resolved the regional conflicts that prompted the original aggression by Iraq.
c. It was waged entirely by U.S. military forces.
d. It created a fiscal crisis because of the financial burden it placed on the United States.
36 . U. S. foreign-aid expenditures account for about ________ percent of the federal budget.
a. 50
b. 33
c. 20
d. 10
37 . The nuclear triad consists of
a. land-based missiles, long-range bombers, and tactical nuclear weapons.
b. long-range bombers, jet fighters, and submarine-based missiles.
c. land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles, and long-range bombers.
d. long-range bombers, land-based missiles, and cruise missiles.
38 . When it comes to foreign trade, most of the protectionist sentiment is usually found in
a. the White House.
b. Congress.
c. multinational corporations headquartered in the United States.
d. the bureaucracies.
39. In regard to the Iraq conflict, the United States
a. has been able to count on its traditional allies for troops and money for the war.
b. has been able to count on its traditional allies for troops but not money.
c. has been able to count on its traditional allies for money but not troops.
d. has borne the very large share of military casualties and money costs of the war.
e. has had financial support from the Arab states although they have publicly stated their opposition to the war in Iraq.
Answer: d
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40 . In declaring his preemptive war doctrine in 2002, President George W. Bush said
a. that he would place more emphasis on intelligence-gathering in the war on terrorism as a way of preempting the use of military force.
b. that he would place more emphasis on law enforcement in the war on terrorism as a way of preempting the use of military force.
c. that he would place more emphasis on the Department of Homeland Security in order to preempt the use of military force.
d. that the United States would no longer wait to be attacked or until an attack was imminent to wage war on any country that was a grave threat to the United States.
41 . In a 2006 jointly issued report, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the Iraq conflict
a. would end successfully within a two-year period.
b. would end in the defeat of U.S. forces.
c. would end successfully only if Iraq was divided into three countries, one for each of its main groups—the Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites.
d. had increased the number of terrorists and the terrorist threat worldwide.
Essay/Short Answer
1. Discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. economy relative to those of leading competitor nations.
Answer: The United States has the largest domestic market of any country in the world. It also has a balanced economy—it is strong in terms of industry, agriculture, and natural resources. Finally, the United States has a strong military to protect its economic interests. On the other hand, the United States has a very large national debt, a substantial trade deficit, and a large credit deficit.
2. Describe the military-industrial complex and discuss its influence on defense spending.
Answer: The military-industrial complex has three components: the military establishment, the industries that manufacture weapons, and the members of Congress from states and districts that depend heavily on the arms industry. The military-industrial complex is an aggregation of interests that benefit from a high level of defense spending, regardless of whether all these expenditures are necessary for national security. Experts agree that some proportion of American defense spending reflects the workings of the military-industrial complex rather than the requirements of national security.
3. Define the term containment policy. What was the basis for this policy?
Answer: Containment was the post-World War II American foreign policy toward the Soviet Union. It held that the Soviet Union was an aggressor nation and that only a determined United States could block its territorial ambitions. It was rooted in a general way in the failure of the appeasement policy undertaken by the British and French toward Nazi Germany before World War II. Appeasement was predicated on the belief that giving in to a potential aggressor’s demands would satisfy or appease the aggressor, and hence avoid war. Appeasement failed in this instance, and encouraged Hitler to believe that he could bully his way to other gains. The lesson of Munich (where the allies allowed Hitler to gain de facto control over Czechoslovakia) was that an aggressor can never be appeased. Rather, aggressors must be stood up to and denied their expansionist aims. Since the Soviet Union was viewed as expansionist, the lesson of Munich applied to it in the form of containment policy.
4. Describe the three goals of the United States in the global economy.
Answer: The first goal is to sustain an open system of trade that will promote prosperity at home. The second goal is to maintain access to energy and other resources that are vital to the regular functioning of the U.S. economy. The third goal is to prevent the widening gap between the rich and poor countries from destabilizing the world’s economy.
5. Why is defense policy a mix of majoritarian and elite politics? Explain.
Answer: On issues of broad national concern, majority opinion is important in defense policy in the United States. By way of illustration, it was public opinion and organized political protests that ultimately led to the withdrawal of American troops in Vietnam.
Debates over foreign and defense policy, however, typically take place among political elites. Most American citizens are not sufficiently interested to contribute substantively to such discussions. Because Americans know very little about foreign affairs, governmental officials and foreign policy specialists have wide latitude in determining policy.
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