AP US Government : Policy Relations

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP US Government

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Example Questions

Example Question #21 : Policy Relations

The creation and purpose of the League of Nations would best be described as which form of diplomacy?

Possible Answers:

None of these answer is correct.

All of the other answers are correct

Moral Diplomacy

Gunboat Diplomacy

Dollar Diplomacy

Correct answer:

Moral Diplomacy

Explanation:

While the League of Nations was designed for many purposes, it was a dream of Woodrow Wilson for the purpose of ensuring global peace and humanitarianism. These goals were the foundation of the League of Nations, and a clear example of moral diplomacy.

Example Question #19 : Foreign Relations

Which of these do not demonstrate the concept of American isolationism? 

Possible Answers:

The United States as a non-participant in the Spanish Civil War

The creation of President James Monroe's Monroe Doctrine, a policy that has been invoked by multiple Presidents several times

The resistance President Franklin D. Roosevelt received from Congress over expanding the role of the United States in foreign affairs prior to World War II

America's military policy in World War II prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor

The United States not participating in the League of Nations after Woodrow Wilson failed to convince Congress that America should join

Correct answer:

The creation of President James Monroe's Monroe Doctrine, a policy that has been invoked by multiple Presidents several times

Explanation:

American isolationism is when the United States withdraws from international conflicts, trade, and disputes, focusing all economic and political power on domestic issues like the American economy and job market, infrastructural and educational development, and social issues.

 In fewer words, isolationism is when a country limits its associations with other countries, confining itself to try and be self-reliant.

So for this question, the answer that does not demonstrate isolationism is the one that deals with America being involved in foreign affairs. The Monroe Doctrine has shaped American foreign policy a great deal, as evidenced by several Presidents invoking it. The Monroe Doctrine deals with the relationship among the countries of the Americas (North and South) and dictates that any outside nations are to stay out of the affairs among the countries of the Americas - unless they want to face a military response from the United States.

The other answers in this question all represent a form of isolationism by demonstrating a turn away from foreign affairs. The League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations, never had U.S. participation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to expand the role of the United States on the world stage and engage more deeply in foreign affairs. Congress often rebuffed him (the extreme opposition to the U.S. joining the World Court, for example), and they stayed reluctant to engage in most foreign affairs the attack on Pearl Harbor. This is when America changed military strategy and joined in the Allies' fight in Europe and abroad.

Example Question #20 : Foreign Relations

What was the main argument that the U.S. officials made to justify invading Iraq in 2003?  

Possible Answers:

Kuwait, an American ally, was invaded again by Saddam Hussein and was on the verge of collapse

Iraq and Iran were on the verge of an alliance that would have destabilized Western interests in the region

Saddam Hussein and his regime had WMDs, or weapons of mass destruction

The Baathist party's atrocities in the region had reached a boiling point, so the U.S. intervened on a humanitarian level

The U.S. would add a dominant force to an EU alliance that was preparing to invade Iraq

Correct answer:

Saddam Hussein and his regime had WMDs, or weapons of mass destruction

Explanation:

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 because the United States believed that Saddam Hussein had WMDs, or weapons of mass destruction (both biological and chemical). The United Nations had sent teams in to investigate and also concluded that Saddam had WMDs, with several other countries supporting this notion.  

The United States and the U.N. had worked well together in 1990 when Kuwait was invaded by Saddam Hussein and Iraq, and authorities for both the U.S. and U.N. believed the WMDs were there.  

Much of Saddam Hussein's behavior as leader of Iraq, both historically and around the time of the 2003 U.S. invasion had been suspicious, if not completely nefarious, which contributed to the U.S. and U.N.'s thought process.

Example Question #22 : Policy Relations

What was the first international organization that used the concept of collective security? The U.S. helped establish this organization but never actually joined.

Possible Answers:

General Assembly

NATO

League of Nations

Security Council

United Nations

Correct answer:

League of Nations

Explanation:

Woodrow Wilson saw the end of World War I as an opportune time to rethink international politics. He had a masterful moment when he made his Fourteen Point plan that focused on expanding diplomacy, peace, and international trade (two countries that are strong economic partners have a better chance at diplomatic solutions when problems arise, since both sides have more to lose).  

The Fourteen Point plan also called for the establishment of the League of Nations, which Congress was not ready or willing to join. Woodrow Wilson saw the League of Nations' founding, but it was extremely weak without the United States as a member.

Together, the members of the League of Nations decided as a whole who and what threatened international security. In other words, the member-countries collectively sought to protect each other and ensure one another's security.

Example Question #23 : Policy Relations

Which of these ideas were not presented in George Kennan's "Long telegram" (1946) about the percolating conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union?

Possible Answers:

The Soviet Union would provoke a global dispute between capitalism and communism

The U.S. must utilize policies of containment - resisting, but not overreacting to the rise of communism

The Soviet Union will seek an expansion of its power and all-encompassing development

The Soviet Union is the figurehead and base for Communism for the whole planet

The U.S. must build bases throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia to prepare for a military strike against the Soviet Union

Correct answer:

The U.S. must build bases throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia to prepare for a military strike against the Soviet Union

Explanation:

George Kennan made a lot of waves in Washington when he wrote the "Long Telegram".  He did not believe that a war with the Soviet Union was the answer, and he did not promote the idea of building bases in Europe.  

Kennan believed the opposite.  We did not need to have a competition with the Soviet Union over the spreading of capitalism and communism.  His policy of containment became a political phenomenon, and the basis of the Truman Doctrine as well as America's Cold War strategy until the Reagan administration.

Example Question #24 : Policy Relations

After World War II, two separate alliances divided Europe into two spheres of influence. The ________________ formed the Western alliance, and the _______________ formed the Eastern alliance. 

Possible Answers:

North American Treaty Organization (NATO) . . . Warsaw Pact

SEATO . . . Alliance of Tamases

Quadruple Alliance . . . Hellenic League

Five Power Defense Arrangements . . . Balkan League

Mutual Defense Treaty . . . Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security

Correct answer:

North American Treaty Organization (NATO) . . . Warsaw Pact

Explanation:

NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, brought West Germany into the fold after Germany's division. East Germany aligned with Russia and other communist countries through the Warsaw Pact.  Germany's division right through Berlin created two massive spheres of influence - East vs. West; communism vs. democracy - until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and Germany was officially reunified in 1990.

Example Question #27 : Policy Relations

What did the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) do?

Possible Answers:

The NPT sought to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and encouraged the safe development of nuclear capabilities

The NPT attempted to assist LDCs (less developed countries) with programs that incorporated the IMF, World Bank, and the U.S. 

The NPT was the first anti-pollution treaty drafted by the U.N., and it focused on keeping rivers, oceans, and lakes clean

The NPT was an agreement among the U.N. Security Council that placed limitations on weapons caches that each country could stockpile after the Vietnam War

The NPT effectively brought an end to the Soviet Union, which included the reunification of Germany

Correct answer:

The NPT sought to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and encouraged the safe development of nuclear capabilities

Explanation:

The Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968), also called the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, reinforced the power of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA had been established about a decade prior to the formulation of the NPT.  The IAEA is a watchdog agency with some power, and the Non-Proliferation Treaty legitimized the IEAE's global reach.  

The NPT's creation resulted in multiple countries disbanding their nuclear weapons programs (including Brazil, South Korea, and South Africa). After the Soviet Union's collapse in the early 1990s, multiple Soviet states gave up nuclear weapons when they acquired independence (Kazakhstan and Ukraine to name a couple).

The overarching goals of the NPT is two-fold: first, to promote proper nuclear development for countries attempting to create and utilize nuclear energy for safe, moral purposes (such as generating electricity for cities). The second goal of this treaty is stop the spread of nuclear weapons, which includes reducing preexisting stockpiles of these devices.

Example Question #834 : Ap Us Government

Which term describes the concept of a country having institutions, legacy, and advancements (cultural, economic, or political), any of which sets that country apart from the rest of the world?

Possible Answers:

Conditionality

Unilateralism

Washington Consensus

Exceptionalism

Isolationism

Correct answer:

Exceptionalism

Explanation:

American exceptionalism is the concept that America stands apart from the rest of the world as the prime example of a modern society.  The values represented in the Constitution and the fruitful government-citizen relationship creates a unique profile for a country - both presently and historically.  The American profile is a colossal one that has helped to spread democratic ideals across the world, and has in turn created a sense of exceptionalism within American borders, among citizens.

Isolationism involves the concept a country separating from the rest of the world, but includes that country withdrawing from the majority of global diplomacy, international trade, and foreign wars.  Isolationism does not immediately mean that a country is exceptional.

The Washington Consensus is a set of economic policies and conditionality is a set of conditions a country must meet before receiving foreign aid - both being unrelated to this question. 

Finally, unilateralism (in regards to foreign affairs) is when a country commits an act across international borders without a consensus from other affected, regional, or world powers.

Example Question #832 : Ap Us Government

What is the name given to the oil companies that owned, operated, and distributed the majority of oil in the Middle East until the 1970s?

Possible Answers:

Middle East managers

Seven sisters

Oil barons

Blueliners

OPEC

Correct answer:

Seven sisters

Explanation:

In the 1970s, a massive amount of the world's untapped oil was underneath the Middle Eastern countries.  There was a gold rush decades earlier - efforts by western oil companies to take control of the oil operations and distribution.  

Multiple companies had signed the Red Line Agreement - so maybe the oil companies could be called Red Liners, but not "Blue Liners".  The answers "oil barons" and "Middle East managers" are not recognized monikers for any group of oil companies in this instance.  OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) is the organization that was formed in order to embolden and unify the countries that had massive oil reserves and minuscule authority over their own resources.  At its point of origin, OPEC consisted of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and from South America, Venezuela.  

The seven sisters is the name that was given to the Western oil companies that had established a considerable foothold in the Middle Eastern oil market.  The companies included: Standard Oil  of California, New Jersey (Exxon), and New York (Mobil); Texaco, Gulf, Royal Dutch / Shell, and BP (British Petroleum).

Example Question #25 : Policy Relations

The Declaration of Principles was signed at the White House in 1993, which led to agreements known as the Oslo Accords. What resulted from these agreements?

Possible Answers:

A temporary peace between Russia and Georgia

Mutual recognition of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Israeli Government

Mutual recognition between the governments of Serbia and Bosnia

A lasting peace between Russia and Georgia

None of these

Correct answer:

Mutual recognition of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Israeli Government

Explanation:

In order to answer this question, you simply needed to know that the Oslo Accords, while agreed to in meetings held in the US, were concerned with the relationship between the PLO and the Israeli government. The first step, and the first imposition of the Oslo Accord, was that the two organizations needed to recognize that each other even existed (in a diplomatic sense), which they had not previously, as both contended that the other were illegitimate terrorist organizations.

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