"Obama's foreign policy has, above all, been characterized by strategic restraint. ... He has been wary of grand declaration and military interventions.

"Obama came to office believing that the U.S. had overextended itself militarily. He believed that the cost of extravagant involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan had been the erosion of ties with allies and the worsening of rela­- tions with adversaries ....

"Such restraint is much harder to execute than it may appear. In a world without a serious military rival, the U.S. becomes the world's emergency call center ....

"The president whom Obama resembles most in this respect is an unlikely one: Dwight Eisenhower .... Eisenhower refused to support America's closest allies, the British and French, when they-with Israel-invaded Egypt. . . . He declined to send forces to help the French in Vietnam. . . . Eisenhower-the greatest military hero of World War II-could stay sane and resist calls for action."

-Fareed Zakaria, commentator andjoumalist,"Why Barack Is Like Ike," Time, December $31, 2012$

President Obama best resembled President Eisenhower in his preference for

(A) using nuclear brinkmanship to force opponents to yield

(B) relying on relatively small secret operations to carry out policies

(C ) challenging the military-industrial complex over spending

(D) giving the impression that he was not in charge by playing golf

"Clinton was widely hailed, even by some of his detractors, as the most gifted politician of his generation-but the political task presented to him required continual bobbing and weaving, compromising and negotiation, retreating so as to advance .... Clinton was forced to establish a position independent of both the hostile Republican majority and the impotent Democratic minority. The ensuing confrontations that led to a federal government shutdown, Clin­- ton's recovery in the election of $1996$, and the impeachment proceeding two years later all stemmed from the political realities surrounding the Clinton White House ....

Clinton and his advisors figured out a great deal on the run .... Clinton was also hunted and accused of wrongdoing as few previous presidents had been .... Under siege, though, Clinton survived to become, by the end of his second term, a singularly admired if controversial leader."

-Sean Wilentz, historian, The Age of Reagan: A History $1974-2008, 2008$

Which of the following best explains the general popularity of the Clinton presidency?

(A) Clinton survived an unpopular impeachment effort led by his politi­- cal opponents

(B) Clinton presided over eight years of prosperity and improved middle­- class incomes

(C ) Clinton organized successful peace-keeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia

(D) Clinton negotiated a plan to stabilize Social Security and Medicare for seniors

What took place at the Yalta Conference? How were later events foreshadowed by it?

"It is clear that the main element of any United States policy towards the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies .... It is clear that the United States cannot expect in the foreseeable future to enjoy political intimacy with the Soviet regime. It must continue to regard the Soviet Union as a rival, not a partner, in the political arena. It must continue to expect that Soviet policies will reflect no abstract love of peace and stability, no real faith in the possibility of a per­ manent happy coexistence of the Socialist and capitalist worlds, but rather a cautious, persistent pressure towards the disruption and weakening of all rival influence and rival power."

-Mr. X (George F. Kennan), State Department professional, "The Sources of Soviet Conduct," Foreign Affairs, July $1947$

Which one of the following best reflected the policies advocated in the above excerpt?

(A) The proposal to miltarily roll back Communism in Eastern Europe

(B) General MacArthur's criticism of the concept of limited wars

(C ) The Truman Doctrine of aid to Greece and Turkey

(D) George Marshall's negotiations to end the Chinese civil war

The Italian nationalists faced what obstacles and what favorable conditions to unity?

What were the advantages of the blitzkrieg war tactic?

"Obama's foreign policy has, above all, been characterized by strategic restraint. ... He has been wary of grand declaration and military interventions.

"Obama came to office believing that the U.S. had overextended itself militarily. He believed that the cost of extravagant involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan had been the erosion of ties with allies and the worsening of rela­- tions with adversaries ....

"Such restraint is much harder to execute than it may appear. In a world without a serious military rival, the U.S. becomes the world's emergency call center ....

"The president whom Obama resembles most in this respect is an unlikely one: Dwight Eisenhower .... Eisenhower refused to support America's closest allies, the British and French, when they-with Israel-invaded Egypt. . . . He declined to send forces to help the French in Vietnam. . . . Eisenhower-the greatest military hero of World War II-could stay sane and resist calls for action."

-Fareed Zakaria, commentator andjoumalist,"Why Barack Is Like Ike," Time, December $31, 2012$

Which of the following best explains the context for "Obama came to office believing that the U.S. had overextended itself militarily "?

(A) President Reagan's expansion of the U.S. military spending

(B) The failures of presidents Clinton and Bush to capture Osama bin Laden

(C) President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq

(D) The application of the containment policy in the war on terrorism

"Clinton was widely hailed, even by some of his detractors, as the most gifted politician of his generation-but the political task presented to him required continual bobbing and weaving, compromising and negotiation, retreating so as to advance .... Clinton was forced to establish a position independent of both the hostile Republican majority and the impotent Democratic minority. The ensuing confrontations that led to a federal government shutdown, Clin­- ton's recovery in the election of $1996$, and the impeachment proceeding two years later all stemmed from the political realities surrounding the Clinton White House ....

Clinton and his advisors figured out a great deal on the run .... Clinton was also hunted and accused of wrongdoing as few previous presidents had been .... Under siege, though, Clinton survived to become, by the end of his second term, a singularly admired if controversial leader."

-Sean Wilentz, historian, The Age of Reagan: A History $1974-2008, 2008$

Passage of which of the following is an example of Clinton's success in "compromising and negotiation, retreating so as to advance?"

(A) Bill ending discrimination against gays in the military

(B) Brady Bill and ban on assault rifles

(C ) Health Care Reform Act

(D) Welfare and budget reform

Answer a, b, and c.

a) Briefly explain the effect of ONE of the following on national politics.

Southern white conservatives

"safe seats"

Bush v. Gore

b) Briefly explain the effect of ONE of the following on domestic affairs.

Hurricane Katrina

housing bubble

liquidity crisis

c) Briefly explain the impact of the Roberts Court on ONE of these issues.

elections

gun control

health care

"It is clear that the main element of any United States policy towards the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies .... It is clear that the United States cannot expect in the foreseeable future to enjoy political intimacy with the Soviet regime. It must continue to regard the Soviet Union as a rival, not a partner, in the political arena. It must continue to expect that Soviet policies will reflect no abstract love of peace and stability, no real faith in the possibility of a per­ manent happy coexistence of the Socialist and capitalist worlds, but rather a cautious, persistent pressure towards the disruption and weakening of all rival influence and rival power."

-Mr. X (George F. Kennan), State Department professional, "The Sources of Soviet Conduct," Foreign Affairs, July $1947$

To implement the policies based on this excerpt, the United States for the first time had to

(A) create permanent peacetime alliances with other nations

(B) turn over the command of U.S. troops to foreign nations

(C ) employ spies to gather information on foreign governments

(D) get involved in civil wars and nation building

Compare and contrast the goals of U.S. policy makers in the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II

Analyze to what extent the end of the Cold War changed United States foreign policies from one thousand nine hundred and ninety one to two thousand and twelve.

"These militants are not just the enemies of America or the enemies of Iraq. They are the enemies of Islam, and they're the enemies of humanity.

[I]t is cowardice that seeks to kill children and the elderly with car bombs, and cuts the throat of a bound captive, and targets worshipers leaving a mosque. It is courage that liberated more than fifty million people from tyranny. And it is courage in the cause of freedom that will once again destroy the enemies of freedom!

Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent con­- tradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom, by distrusting human creativity, and punishing change, and limiting the contributions of half a popu­- lation, this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible and human societies successful. The only thing modern about the militants' vision is the weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past, a declaration of war on the idea of progress itself."

-George W. Bush, Veterans Day Speech, November $11, 2005$

Which of the following best supports President Bush's comparison of Islamic radicalism to communism?

(A) Neither saw universal education as a path to progress

(B) Neither valued freedom of the individual

(C ) Both opposed cultural change

(D) Both opposed advances in personal communications

Answer a, b, and c.

a) Briefly explain the foreign policy impact of ONE of the following.

Tiananmen Square

Fall of Berlin Wall

Operation Desert Storm

b) Briefly analyze the political significance of ONE of the following.

H. Ross Perot

National Rifle Association

Contract with America

c) Briefly explain ONE reason why the impeachment of Bill Clinton proved unpopular with many voters.