"What do you know about global affairs and global business in 2007? Take this quiz:
1. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was recently elected president of Argentina. Which of the following items appear on her resume?
a) attorney
b) senator
c) first lady
d) all of the above
2) The International Trade Administration recently released state-specific data on Kentucky's exports. What country is Kentucky's fastest-growing export market?
a) China
b) Israel
c) United Arab Emirates
d) Brazil
3) What do Kentuckians export most?
a) horses
b) bourbon
c) transportation equipment
d) tobacco
4) Web logs became a key communications tool for government officials in 2007. Which of the following government officials were "blogging" in the previous 12 months?
a) British Foreign Secretary David Miliband
b) U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services Mike Leavitt
c) Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Moustapha
d) all of the above
5) What did Spanish King Juan Carlos ask Venezuelan President (and outspoken critic of "Western" democracy) Hugo Chavez at a summit of global leaders in November?
a) "Why don't you shut up?"
b) "Would anyone notice you if your country had no oil?"
c) "Would you please stop staring at my wife?"
d) "Are you begging for economic sanctions?"
6) J.K. Rowling's final book of the "Harry Potter" series was published in 2007 by Scholastic. In how many languages have these books been translated?
a) 18
b) 31
c) 60
d) 84
7) The now-famous Woodford Reserve "$1,000 Mint Julep" served at the 2007 Kentucky Derby was actually a global drink. While the bourbon came from Kentucky, where did the other ingredients come from?
a) mint from Japan, ice from Iceland, sugar from Brazil
b) mint from Ceylon, ice from Argentina, sugar from Hawaii
c) mint from England, ice from France, sugar from Thailand
d) mint from Ireland, ice from the Bavarian Alps, sugar from Australia
8) The University of Kentucky's Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce held an innovative "crisis simulation" in 2007. What crisis did the faculty fabricate for the students?
a) Fidel Castro's death
b) Imposition of martial law in Pakistan
c) Taiwan's announcement of a nuclear program
d) Marie Osmond faints on "Dancing with the Stars"
9) Aachen, Germany, was the host of the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games. It is also famous for giving out an annual award. What is it?
a) The van der Rohe Prize for modern architecture
b) The Anno Domini Prize for art in minting and coinage
c) The Charlemagne Prize for promoting the unification of Europe
d) The Chancellor's Prize for advances in global trade
10) Foreign Policy Magazine issues an annual "Globalization Index" that ranks the global nature of countries based on a number of factors: political engagement, economic integration, personal contact and technological connectivity. The United States ranked seventh in the Index. Which country ranked first?
a) Ireland
b) Netherlands
c) Denmark
d) Singapore
David Wescott is a Lexington-based senior associate for APCO Worldwide, a global public affairs firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. He writes a blog about technology and communications issues called "It's Not a Lecture," which can be found online at http://itsnotalecture.blogspot.com.
How did you do?
8-10 correct: Head to Davos and mingle with the global elite.
5-7 correct: Spend a week at Euro Disney.
3-4 correct: Trade in that copy of the Herald-Leader for an International Herald Tribune.
0-2 correct: Call the Patterson School and beg forgiveness.
1) D, all of the above. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has been called the "South American Hillary Clinton" — an attorney, senator, and First Lady. Time will tell if Senator Clinton will become the "North American Cristina Kirchner."
2) B, Israel. While Canada is far and away the state's largest export market, Kentucky's exports to Israel have surged in recent years on a percentage basis — from $13 million in 2002 to $53 million in 2006. Other fast-growing export markets for the Bluegrass State include Brazil, China, and Mexico.
3) C, transportation equipment. While horses, bourbon and tobacco are Kentuky's signature products, they're by no means the largest ones. Chemicals are Kentucky's second-largest export.
4) D, all of the above. The conversational nature of blogs has made them an indispensible tool for communicators in all sectors, and in all areas of the world. Shortly after British Foreign Secretary Miliband started his second government blog (he authored one while he was Tony Blair's agriculture minister), even the U.S. Department of State began a blog called "DipNote."
5) A, "Why don't you shut up?" King Carlos asked Hugo Chavez at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, in November. King Carlos told Chavez to zip it after Chavez repeatedly called Spain's former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist."
6) C, Sixty. Books from the Harry Potter series have authorized translations in at least 60 languages, including Bengali, Marathi, and Urdu. Scholars have even translated Harry Potter into Latin and Ancient Greek, though only as an academic exercise.
7) D, mint from Ireland, ice from the Bavarian Alps, and sugar from Australia. Woodford Reserve also auctioned off special mint julep cups to raise $100,000 to support Thoroughbred Charities of America.
8) A, the death of Fidel Castro. Business Lexington featured a story on the Patterson School crisis sim in the June 1, 2007, issue. Marie Osmond fainting wasn't a simulation, but everything turned out fine.
9) C, The Charlemagne Prize. The 2007 award winner was Javier Solana, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the European Union. Previous Charlemagne Prize winners include Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger and Vaclav Havel.
10) D, Singapore. Singapore's strong commitment to negotiating trade agreements made it #1 on FP's list. The United States cracked the top ten only because of its technological advancement.
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