Sources of American Foreign Policy Ch.1 Exam Prep

Chapter 1

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following best describes transnational relations.

a. Relations between sovereign states.

b. Relations among foreign-policy bureaucrats in several countries.

c. Relations among social groups in different societies.

d. Relations among individuals in several ethnic groups in a country.

2. Why did the Departments of State and Defense oppose immediate U.S. recognition of Israel in 1948?

a. Recognition might endanger U.S. relations with oil-rich Arab states.

b. Israel had occupied a larger share of Palestine than recommended in the UN partition plan.

c. Great Britain’s Balfour Declaration had recommended against establishing a Jewish state.

d. The territory of Israel included the West Bank of the Jordan River.

3. Which of the following has blurred the distinction between the foreign and domestic policy arenas?

a. Regional economic free-trade agreements.

b. High-speed commercial jet aircraft.

c. International organizations.

d. Globalization.

4. Which source of U.S. foreign policy is reflected by the global distribution of power?

a. Government.

b. External.

c. Role.

d. Society.

5. Which of the following countries is most likely to be highly affected by external events?

a. Russia.

b. China.

c. Singapore.

d. The United States.

6. Which of the following countries is likely to be least affected by societal factors?

a. Russia.

b. The United States.

c. Great Britain.

d. France.

7. Which of the following factors was most responsible for making America’s sub-prime mortgage crisis into a global recession?

a. Rapidly increasing U.S. unemployment.

b. Growing economic interdependence.

c. The size of the U.S. budget deficit.

d. The rapid increase in U.S. home prices.

8. Which of the following is a characteristic of globalization?

a. Migration.

b. Trade.

c. Cyber-espionage.

d. All of the above.

9. Which of the following increases America’s “soft power”?

a. Growing wealth.

b. Democratic values.

c. Nuclear weapons,

d. Increasing energy independence.

10. Which of the following is a governmental factor in foreign policy?

a. The system of checks and balances.

b. The skills of an American president.

c. The propensity of secretaries of defense to seek higher military spending?

d. The lobbying by defense industries for higher defense spending.

11. Which of the following wars was officially declared by Congress?

a. The Korean War (1950).

b. The Vietnam War (1965).

c. World War II (1941).

d. The Iraq War (2003).

12. Which of the following did Congress require under the War Powers Act?

a. To approve troop commitment of more than 60 days.

b. To retaliate for an attack on the United States.

c. To maintain a balanced budget during wartime.

d. To approve the size of America’s defense budget.

13. What foreign leader was invited by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to speak to the House?

a. President Xi Jianping, China.

b. Prime Minister David Cameron, Great Britain.

c. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel.

d. Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany.

14. Which of the following is a barrier to congressional influence in foreign policy?

a. Inadequate time.

b. Insufficient funding.

c. The absence of authority to determine executive budgets.

d. The unwillingness of executive officials to testify before congressional committees.

15. What impact did the letter by Republican senators to Iranian leaders have on U.S.-Iranian negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear program?

a. Iran ended negotiations.

b. The United States ended negotiations.

c. Iran modified its demands.

d. It had little impact.

16. How did the case of Missouri v. Holland (1920) affect American foreign policy?

a. It ruled that international treaties took precedence over the right of U.S. states.

b. It confirmed the supremacy of the government over private corporations in foreign policy.

c. It confirmed the requirement that a president seek congressional approval to go to war.

d. It ruled that drone strikes and targeted assassinations of U.S. citizens were illegal.

17. How did the case of United States v. Curtiss-Wright (1936) affect American foreign policy?

a. It ruled that international treaties took precedence over the right of U.S. states.

b. It confirmed the supremacy of the government over private corporations in foreign policy.

c. It confirmed the requirement that a president seek congressional approval to go to war.

d. It ruled that drone strikes and targeted assassinations of U.S. citizens were illegal.

18. Which of the following best describes Supreme Court rulings in cases dealing with congressional-presidential relations involving foreign policy?

a. The Court avoided ruling in most instances.

b. The Court favored Congress in most instances.

c. The Court remanded sent most back cases to federal appeals courts in most instances.

d. The Court favored the president in most instances.

19. Against which president did the Supreme Court rule regarding presidential authority to seize private property?

a. Harry S. Truman.

b. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

c. John F. Kennedy.

d. Richard M. Nixon.

20. In what kind of cases involving foreign policy is the Supreme Court likely to rule against the president?

a. Cases involving the dispatch of U.S. forces overseas.

b. Cases touching upon civil rights.

c. Cases involving the travel of U.S. citizens to countries hostile to the United States.

d. Cases involving covert operations by U.S. intelligence agencies.

21. Which of the following best explains why foreign policymaking tends to be incremental?

a. Decisions involve numerous agencies and bureaucratic interests.

b. Bold decisions are more likely to involve the judicial branch of government.

c. Presidents know little about foreign policy in coming to office.

d. Major decisions are likely to inflame partisan differences.

22. In what sorts of decisions are standard operating procedures most likely to be used?

a. When there are major differences among bureaucratic leaders.

b. In dangerous international crises.

c. When there is agreement in government about the need to make policy changes.

d. In recurring and routine issues.

23. Which of the following best describes presidential relations with the bureaucracies involved in implementing foreign policy?

a. As commanders in chief, presidents dominates large bureaucracies like the Department of Defense.

b. Presidents appoint the heads of major bureaucracies and can fire them if their agencies do not follow presidential guidelines.

c. Presidents are often frustrated because major bureaucracies do not implement presidential policy.

d. Presidents permit agency heads wide discretion in implementing their policies.

24. Which of the following describes the “military-industrial complex”?

a. The hardline views of military commanders toward America’s foes.

b. An alliance of corporate, bureaucratic, and congressional interest groups.

c. The belief that the U.S. national interest lies in being prepared for war, thereby avoiding a future Pearl Harbor.

d. An alliance of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to raise the budget of the Department of Defense.

25. Who coined the term “military-industrial complex”?

a. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

b. George W. Bush.

c. Barack Obama.

d. John F. Kennedy.

26. Which of the following best defines an international crisis?

a. A situation that is highly threatening.

b. A situation that was unexpected.

c. A situation that requires rapid decisions.

d. All of the above.

27. Which of the following characterizes decision-making during crises?

a. It involves the collection of large amounts of information by the Departments of State and Defense.

b. It relies heavily on historical analogies.

c. It relies on a coherent understanding of the national interest.

d. It relies increasingly on computers and data collection.

28. What is the essence of democratic peace theory?

a. Democracies should impose peace on authoritarian states.

b. Democracies do not fight one another.

c. Democracies should ally with one another to balance the power of aggressive states.

d. Democratic publics are anti-war.

29. Which of the following believed that public opinion was harmful to shaping a coherent foreign policy?

a. Thomas Jefferson.

b. John Hancock.

c. Abraham Lincoln.

d. Alexander Hamilton.

30. What describes public opinion during international crises?

a. It rallies around U.S. leaders.

b. It is deeply divided.

c. It tends to be pacific.

d. It reflects clear knowledge about the situation.

31. What is the opinion of John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt regarding the “Israeli lobby” in the United States?

a. It is divided between hawkish supporters of Israel and dovelike opponents of Israeli policies.

b. Although it backs Israeli, it rarely gets it way and lacks support in Congress.

c. It dominates U.S. policymaking toward Israel.

d. It reflects the special relationship between the United States and Israel.

32. On what kind of issues do interest groups enjoy the greatest influence?

a. Issues that directly affect them.

b. Issues that enjoy wide public attention.

c. Issues of war and peace.

d. Issues that involve basic norms and values.

33. Which of the following has a great impact on individual conceptions of their role in the foreign-policy process?

a. The legal requirements of their positions.

b. The expectations of their superiors.

c. Their personal values and ethical standards.

d. Their political beliefs.

34. With which of the following leaders did President Barack Obama have a particularly warm relationship?

a. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

b. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

c. Russian President Vladimir Putin.

d. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

35. Which of the following scholars wrote about what he called “social psychiatry”?

a. Thomas Carlyle.

b. Harold Lasswell

c. Irving Janis.

d. Garry Wills.

36. What U.S. president became a “crusader” during his presidency?

a. Barack Obama.

b. Bill Clinton.

c. Richard M. Nixon.

d. George W. Bush.

37. Which of the following is like to be associated with ethnocentrism?

a. A welcoming attitude toward migrants.

b. Suspicion of migrants.

c. A desire to understand the views of migrants.

d. The desire to learn foreign languages.

38. Which of the following presidents was regarded as a “policy wonk”?

a. George H. W. Bush.

b. George W. Bush.

c. Bill Clinton.

d. Harry S. Truman.

39. Which of the following was not a foreign-policy challenge for the Obama administration?

a. War between Pakistan and India.

b. An Ebola epidemic in Africa.

c. Russian aggression in Ukraine.

d. Civil war in Syria.

40. Which president was widely viewed as being aloof and unlikely to try and form close working relationships with those who worked for him?

a. Barack Obama.

b. George W. Bush.

c. Bill Clinton.

d. Harry S. Truman.

Essay Questions

41. Identify two global processes that reflect globalization

42. Identify the five categories of factors that influence U.S. policymaking

43. In what way does the absolute decline of a country differ from its relative decline?

44. How do “hard power” and “soft power” differ?

45. Identify two factors that have reduced the invulnerability that geography formerly provided the U.S.

46. Identify to governmental factors that affect U.S. policymaking

47. Identify three wars in which the U.S. was involved that were not declared by Congress

48. What did the case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004) decide?

49. Identify one reason why most foreign policymaking in the U.S. is incremental

50. Identify two interests types of interest groups that frequently affect foreign policymaking

51. America’s Federal Reserve announced a third round of _____________ in September 2012.

52. President Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney in a televised debate on October 16, 2012 vigorously disputed the assault ___________________ that climaxed with the death of America’s ambassador.

53. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech at the United Nations in which he declared that ________ was approaching the point where it could produce a nuclear weapon and urged Washington to act before it was too late.

54. The five categories of factors that influence American policymaking are __________

55. _______________ is perhaps the leading external constraint on foreign policy because interdependence dilutes American sovereignty, makes the U.S. increasingly vulnerable to the actions of other countries and makes those countries more vulnerable to U.S. policies.

56. The 2011 earthquake and tsunami in ___________ and the subsequent nuclear crisis that interrupted global supply chains in a variety of transnational industries.

57. _____________ infer the national interest by examining the distribution of power globally, especially military power, and caution against intervention except where substantial American interests are at stake or where powerful rivals such as China or Russia are likely to profit.

58. The ________________ assures that there will be a fragmentation of decision-making authority in American policymaking.

59. To rein in presidential power to go to war, Congress passed _____________________in 1973 by which Congress must approve troop commitments in conflicts lasting over 60 days.

60. John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, invited ________________________to address Congress about the dangers posed by Iran and Islamic terrorists, issues that Republicans believed Obama did not take sufficiently seriously.

61. In the case of _____________ (1920), the Supreme Court ruled that international treaties took precedence over states’ rights.

62. In the case of __________________ (1952), the Court Supreme ruled that President Harry Truman did not have the authority to seize private property.

63. Presidents need __________ to collect, process, and interpret information, as well as allocate resources and responsibilities for performing important tasks.

64. _______________ are especially helpful in dealing with recurring issues because high-ranking policymakers in the executive and legislative branches have neither the time nor expertise to do so.

65.

a. democracies do not go to war with one another