Final Exam-Current Events Spring 2025

Foreign Policy

a government's strategy in dealing with other nations

Domestic Policy

Plans for dealing with national problems

Military

country’s troops led by the president (commander in chief) and includes the army, navy, air force, and marines

Foreign Aid

help or assistance we give to other countries

economic aid

a type of foreign aid that involves sending money to other nations

Treaties

formal agreement between countries that MUST be followed

Major foreign policy shifts

After war of 1812, WWI, WWII, and during the Cold War

Arab Spring

a series of anti-government protests and uprisings in several Arab countries that began in late 2010, leading to significant political changes.

Syrian Civil War

a multi-sided conflict that began in 2011, involving the Syrian government, opposition groups, and various foreign interventions, resulting in a humanitarian crisis.

Hafez al-Assad

the first President of Syria, serving from 1971 until his death in 2000. He established an authoritarian regime and was known for his strong military influence and suppression of dissent.

Bashar al-Assad

took over after his father’s death and continued to use methods similar to his father to suppress dissent. He was overthrown in Dec 2024 by HTS

Methods used by Syrian leaders to keep people in line

use of secret police and alliances with foreign nations like Iran, Russia, and Turkey

ISIS

Terrorist group that took over parts of Syria and Iraq. Their laws were very repressive toward women and based on their religion (Islam)

HTS

Hayat Tahrir al Sham is an offshoot of Al-Qaeda. This group is considered a terrorist group by most nations. They overthrew Bashar al-Assad in Dec 2024 and are currently running Syria

Role of Russia in Syria

Russia has provided money and weapons to the Syrian government

Role of Turkey in Syria

Turkey has used issues in Syria to try and kill the Kurds (an ethnic minority that lives in many middle eastern nations)

Role of Iran in Syria

they have provided money and weapon’s to Assad’s army

Role of the US in Syria

the US has worked to suppress ISIS in Syria and to bring humanitarian aid to the Syrian people. They also have placed sanctions on the Syrian government (like freezing bank accounts)

Chemical weapons

The US had threatened to get involved in Syria if chemical weapons were used against their own people. However, even though proof of this happening exists, the US did not get involved

Articles of Confederation

the first constitution of the United States

Strengths of Articles of Confederation

- Congress power to make peace, money, appoint army off., post office, deal indian affairs

- sense of union

- creation of central authority

Weaknesses of Articles of Confederation

no power to tax, President lacked power, no money to buy ships or pay soldiers

Shays' Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Constitutional Convention

The meeting of state delegates in 1787 in Philadelphia called to revise the Articles of Confederation. It instead designed a new plan of government, the US Constitution.

Constitutional Debates and Compromises

Great Compromise-Over the Legislative Branch - 2 houses - Senate & House of Representatives

3/5 Compromise- 5 slaves = 3 white men (You must have at least 5 slaves to count)

Amending the Constitution

Needs approval of two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states

Ratification of the Constitution

required 9 out of 13 states to ratify (approve) it to become law.

Supreme Court

the highest federal court in the United States

Main job of the Supreme Court

interpret laws

Rule of 4

Four Justices must agree to hear a case.

Majority opinion

Official statement of the Supreme Court's ruling.

Concurring opinion

Agreement with majority but for different reasons.

Dissenting opinion

Disagreement with the majority's ruling.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments protecting individual liberties.

Writ of certiorari

Order to review a lower court's decision.

Precedent

Legal principle established in previous court cases.

Civil case

Legal dispute between individuals or organizations.

Criminal case

Government prosecution of an individual for crime.

Appellant

Party appealing a court decision.

Appellee

Party responding to an appeal.

Brief

a written document explaining the position of one side or the other in a case

Number of Justices on Supreme Court

Total of nine Justices serve on the Court.

Five freedoms listed in First Amendment

Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, petition.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

A legal case in which it was ruled that government can limit free speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils.

Clear and present danger test

test to determine whether speech is protected or unprotected, based on its capacity to present a "clear and present danger" to society

Packingham v. North Carolina (2017)

Ruled a NC law prohibiting convicted sex offenders from accessing social media websites was an unconstitutional infringement on the 1st Amendment right of free expression

Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump (2021)

-Those who sued said Trump blocking them on twitter had been violating their first amendment rights to petition. Trump's twitter became public record

-Found that this was in violation of the First Amendment

-Unanimously voted in favor of the Knight institute

Concerns over TikTok

Privacy and data security issues raised by usage.

What information does TikTok collect from users

user location, keystroke patterns, and videos watched and commented on

US and UK laws banning TikTok

both banned the use of the app on work phones but the US law was stricter

Supreme Court ruling on TikTok ban

they upheld the TikTok ban over security concersn

ByteDance

Parent company of TikTok, based in China.

Oracle

U.S. company involved in TikTok's data management.

Project Texas 2.0

Initiative to secure TikTok's data in the U.S.

Naturalization

A legal process to obtain citizenship

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens

Push factors

Incentives for potential migrants to leave a place, such as a harsh climate, economic recession, or political turmoil.

Pull factors

Positive conditions and perceptions that effectively attract people to new locales from other areas like jobs, education, safety

Nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

law that suspended Chinese immigration into America. The ban was supposed to last 10 years, but it was expanded several times and was essentially in effect until WWII. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law that restricted immigration into the United States of an ethnic working group. Extreme example of nativism of period

National Origins Act of 1924

A law that severely restricted immigration by establishing a system of national quotas that blatantly discriminated against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and virtually excluded Asians. The policy stayed in effect until the 1960s.

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

Abolished the national-origins quotas and providing for the admission each year of 170,000 immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 from the Western Hemisphere

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Federal law requiring employers to verify and maintain records on applicants' legal rights to work in the United States

Immigrant Visa

a visa that allows a person to stay in the United States permanently

Non-immigrant Visa

is the visa issued to persons with a permanent residence outside the U.S. but who wishes to be in the U.S. on a
temporary basis.

Undocumented (Immigrants)

People who enter a country without proper documents.

Documented (immigrants)

have the government's permission (& paperwork) to be here

Deportation

The act of a government sending a migrant out of its country and back to the migrant's home country

DACA

Policy that would provide deportation relief to those brought to this country as children; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

refugee

A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster

asylum seeker

a person who has left their home country as a political refugee and is asking to be a refugee but has not had their paperwork filed before arriving

economic migrant

someone trying to improve their standard of living, who moves voluntarily

effect of immigration on home country (Philippines)

lose workers and educated

Remittances

Money migrants send back to family and friends in their home countries, often in cash, forming an important part of the economy in many poorer countries

Brain waste

a phenomenon in which international migrants with high levels of education and/or training often are not eligible to work in their area of training due to regulations or certification requirements, resulting in a "wasted" potential in certain groups.

internally displaced persons

people forced to leave their homes but who settle in another part of their own country

Trump’s executive orders (directed towards which group)

immigrants and refugees, restricting entry and enforcing deportation policies

Role of Homeland Security in Trump’s executive orders

refers to the agency responsible for implementing and enforcing immigration policies, including border security and immigration enforcement actions, as directed by Trump's executive orders.

Role of US Citizenship and Immigration Services in Trump’s executive orders

responsible for processing immigration applications and petitions, including those affected by the executive orders.

Role of Attorney General in Trump’s executive orders

The Attorney General plays a critical role in guiding immigration enforcement policies and legal interpretations under Trump's executive orders, overseeing the coordination between federal immigration law and local enforcement.

Alien Enemies Act

a law that allows the US government to detain or deport alien enemies during wartime.

Venezuelan migrants

one of the main groups that has been targeted in Trump’s executive orders. They have been rounded up and deported to a prison in El Salvador

Due process for immigrants

a legal requirement that the government must respect all legal rights of immigrants, including fair treatment and legal protections during immigration proceedings.

Free speech for immigrants

the right of immigrants to express themselves freely, protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Climate Change

Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.

Eunice Foote

Scientist who discovered the greenhouse effect.

Greenhouse Gas

Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect.

Weather vs. Climate

Weather refers to short-term atmospheric conditions, while climate is the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area.

Impacts of Climate Change

Change on ecosystems, human societies, and the environment.

PPM (Parts Per Million)

A unit of measurement used to describe the concentration of a substance in air or water.

Greenhouse Effect

The process by which certain gases in the atmosphere trap heat and warm the Earth.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

A major greenhouse gas produced by human activities such as burning fossil fuels.

Human-Related Emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities like industry, transportation, and agriculture.

Rise in Global Temperatures

The increase in the average temperature of Earth's climate system.

Hind-casting

Using past data to test the accuracy of climate models.

Consequences of Climate Change

The various negative impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and ecosystem disruption.

Climate Feedback Loop

Processes that can amplify or diminish the effects of climate change.

Consequences of Global Temperature Rise

The effects of the increase in Earth's average temperature, such as melting ice caps, sea level rise, and changes in precipitation patterns.

Direct Impact of Climate Change

Immediate and obvious effects of climate change, such as heat waves and floods.

Indirect Impact of Climate Change

Secondary or less obvious effects of climate change, such as changes in disease vectors and food security.