Global Security Concerns Questions and Answers

Answer: B

CTED stands for the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate.

The Security Council set up the Counter-Terrorism Committee by Resolution 1373 after the attacks of 11 September 2001, to monitor how states implement their counter-terrorism obligations. In 2004, Resolution 1535 created the Executive Directorate as its expert body, to carry out country assessments and support the Committee's work.

The other expansions each drop or alter a word: the Directorate belongs to the Committee, not to a 'Council of Counter-Terrorism', and there is no separate 'Counter-Terrorism and Executive Directorate'.

Answer: C

The isobath is 2500 meters.

Under Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a coastal state's continental shelf may extend beyond 200 nautical miles where the continental margin does. Its outer limit must not exceed either 350 nautical miles from the baselines or 100 nautical miles beyond the 2,500 metre isobath, the line joining points where the water is 2,500 metres deep (Article 76(5)).

The 100, 200 and 1,000 metre depths play no part in this rule. The 200 metre depth was the old test of the shelf under the 1958 Geneva Convention, which is why it can tempt, but UNCLOS replaced it.

Answer: A

The Convention was proposed by India.

In 1996 India put forward a draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the United Nations, to give a single legal framework against terrorism in place of the many sectoral conventions on hijacking, hostage-taking and bombings. Negotiations in the General Assembly's Ad Hoc Committee have stalled mainly over the definition of terrorism, especially whether armed struggles for self-determination are excluded.

The United Kingdom, the USA and Austria did not propose it, though India has continued to press all members to adopt it.

Answer: A

The Paris Accord is a climate change agreement.

The Paris Agreement, adopted at COP21 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2015 and in force from November 2016, commits countries to hold global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees, through nationally determined contributions.

It is not a military agreement or a peace accord, and it has nothing to do with the India-Pakistan dispute. Climate change appears in strategic studies as a threat multiplier for security.

Answer: A

Both statements are correct, so the answer is (1) and (2) are correct.

After the attacks of 11 September 2001 on the World Trade Center, the United States shifted its emphasis from containment and deterrence, which work against states that have something to lose, to prevention and pre-emption, acting against threats before they materialise; the National Security Strategy of 2002 set this out (1).

Pre-empting terrorists depends on knowing what they plan, so such a strategy demands far better intelligence than containment and deterrence did (2). Since both statements hold, the options marking either as wrong are incorrect.

Answer: D

The option that is not a pillar is No guarantee or respect for human rights and the rule of law.

The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, adopted by the General Assembly in 2006, rests on four pillars:

1. addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism;
2. measures to prevent and combat terrorism;
3. building states' capacity to prevent and combat terrorism and strengthening the UN system's role;
4. measures to ensure respect for human rights for all and the rule of law as the fundamental basis of the fight against terrorism.

Option D reverses the fourth pillar, so it is the one that is not part of the Strategy.

Answer: B

The African Union is headquartered in Addis Ababa.

The African Union, which replaced the Organisation of African Unity in 2002, has its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the OAU was founded in 1963. Its Commission sits there.

Johannesburg is the seat of the AU's Pan-African Parliament (in neighbouring Midrand), Nairobi hosts the UN Environment Programme, and Kampala is Uganda's capital. None is the AU's headquarters.

Answer: A

NATO was established in 1949.

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949 by twelve founding members, including the United States, Canada, Britain and France. Its Article 5 commits members to treat an armed attack on one as an attack on all, and it was the West's main alliance against the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

1945 is the year the United Nations was founded and the Second World War ended, 1950 is when the Korean War began, and 1940 falls during the Second World War, so none of them is NATO's founding year.

Answer: D

The GCC was established in May 1981.

The Gulf Cooperation Council was founded in Abu Dhabi on 25 May 1981 by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. It was formed after the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, to coordinate the economic and security policies of the Gulf monarchies, and is headquartered in Riyadh.

December 1980, March 1976 and January 1967 are not dates connected with its founding.

Answer: A

The country that was not a founder member is the People's Republic of China.

The UN Charter was signed in 1945 by 51 original members, among them the Republic of China, which also held China's permanent seat on the Security Council, along with Argentina and the United States.

The People's Republic of China was proclaimed only in October 1949, after the civil war. It took over China's seat, including the permanent Security Council seat, under General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971, but it was not one of the founding members.