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BCS Written International Affairs study materials
BCS Written International Affairs study resources

BCS Written International Affairs practice questions

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Question 1International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which level of analysis treats the international distribution of power as the primary cause of state behaviour?

  1. The systemic level Correct answer.
  2. The individual level
  3. The domestic level
  4. The bureaucratic level

Explanation

Systemic-level analysis explains state behaviour by reference to the structure of the international system, especially the distribution of capabilities among states. Individual, bureaucratic and domestic explanations instead locate causes inside leaders, organisations or national politics.

Question 2International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

In Kenneth Waltz's neorealism, what is the defining structural feature of the international system?

  1. Anarchy combined with the distribution of capabilities Correct answer.
  2. Collective security guaranteed by great powers
  3. Economic interdependence among trading states
  4. A shared set of international norms

Explanation

Waltz treats the international system as anarchic, meaning no authority stands above states, and describes its structure through the ordering principle, the functions of units and the distribution of capabilities. Since states are treated as functionally similar, the distribution of power becomes the key variable.

Question 3International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which concept describes the situation in which one actor's gain is exactly another actor's loss?

  1. Absolute gains
  2. Positive-sum
  3. Zero-sum Correct answer.
  4. Relative gains

Explanation

A zero-sum relationship means the total payoff is fixed, so any benefit to one party comes at the expense of another. Absolute and relative gains describe how actors evaluate payoffs in cooperation, not whether the total is fixed.

Question 4International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which theorist is most closely associated with the democratic peace proposition?

  1. John Mearsheimer
  2. Michael Doyle Correct answer.
  3. Alexander Wendt
  4. Robert Gilpin

Explanation

Michael Doyle revived and systematised the democratic peace argument, drawing on Kant to claim that liberal democracies rarely fight one another. Mearsheimer, Wendt and Gilpin are associated with offensive realism, constructivism and hegemonic stability theory respectively.

Question 5International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which body of the United Nations holds the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security?

  1. The General Assembly
  2. The Trusteeship Council
  3. The Economic and Social Council
  4. The Security Council Correct answer.

Explanation

Under the UN Charter the Security Council bears primary responsibility for international peace and security and may adopt binding decisions. The General Assembly debates and recommends, while ECOSOC handles economic and social matters and the Trusteeship Council suspended operations.

Question 6International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

What does the principle of non-refoulement prohibit?

  1. Refusing entry to economic migrants
  2. Detaining asylum seekers at the border
  3. Returning refugees to a territory where they face persecution Correct answer.
  4. Deporting migrants convicted of crimes

Explanation

Non-refoulement forbids returning a refugee or asylum seeker to a country where they would face persecution or serious harm. It is a cornerstone of international refugee law, codified in the 1951 Refugee Convention and widely treated as customary.

Question 7International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which term describes a situation in which a shared resource is depleted because each user gains individually from overuse?

  1. Prisoner's dilemma
  2. Tragedy of the commons Correct answer.
  3. Security dilemma
  4. Free riding

Explanation

The tragedy of the commons describes collective depletion of a common-pool resource when individual incentives favour overuse. The prisoner's dilemma is a general game structure, free riding concerns contributing to a public good, and the security dilemma concerns military build-ups.

Question 8International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which organisation was created by the 1944 Bretton Woods conference to support fixed exchange rates and short-term balance-of-payments lending?

  1. The Bank for International Settlements
  2. The International Monetary Fund Correct answer.
  3. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  4. The World Trade Organization

Explanation

The IMF was established at Bretton Woods to oversee the par-value exchange rate system and provide short-term financing to countries with balance-of-payments difficulties. The WTO, OECD and BIS have different mandates and origins.

Question 9International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

A small state joins a regional customs union mainly to secure market access and reduce transaction costs. Which theoretical tradition best explains this behaviour?

  1. Liberalism Correct answer.
  2. Classical realism
  3. Marxist dependency theory
  4. Offensive realism

Explanation

Liberalism explains institutional cooperation through expected welfare gains, reduced transaction costs and shared interests. Offensive and classical realism stress power and security, while dependency theory focuses on structural exploitation of the periphery.

Question 10International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Two rival states both increase military spending because each fears the other's build-up. Which dynamic does this illustrate?

  1. The security dilemma Correct answer.
  2. Bandwagoning
  3. Hegemonic stability
  4. The democratic peace

Explanation

The security dilemma arises when actions taken to increase one state's security reduce the security of others, prompting countermeasures and a spiral. Both sides act defensively yet produce mutual insecurity, which is the defining feature here.

Question 11International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

A state accepts a trade dispute ruling it dislikes because it values continued access to the institution's dispute settlement over the long run. Which concept best captures this reasoning?

  1. Deterrence
  2. Reciprocity within institutions Correct answer.
  3. Balance-of-power politics
  4. Autarky

Explanation

Institutional reciprocity means accepting short-term losses in exchange for the longer-term benefits of a functioning rule-based relationship. This logic is central to liberal institutionalist accounts of why states comply with adverse rulings.

Question 12International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

A constructivist would most likely explain a state's decision to join a human rights treaty by pointing to which factor?

  1. The state's pursuit of relative gains
  2. The state's search for military advantage
  3. The state's internalisation of a norm of human dignity Correct answer.
  4. The state's balance-of-payments position

Explanation

Constructivists argue that norms shape identities and interests, so states may comply because they have internalised shared understandings of appropriate behaviour. Material incentives such as military advantage or payments belong to realist and liberal accounts.

Question 13International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which statement best captures the difference between intergovernmental and supranational organisations?

  1. Intergovernmental bodies cannot adopt binding rules
  2. Intergovernmental bodies are controlled by member states, while supranational bodies can bind members by majority Correct answer.
  3. Intergovernmental bodies always lack permanent secretariats
  4. Supranational bodies are limited to economic policy

Explanation

Intergovernmental organisations rest on state consent and usually require unanimity or consensus, whereas supranational bodies can make decisions binding on members without unanimous agreement. Permanent secretariats and binding rules exist in both categories.

Question 14International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which argument is most consistent with the liberal claim that international institutions promote cooperation?

  1. Institutions reduce uncertainty by providing information and monitoring Correct answer.
  2. Institutions primarily redistribute power among classes
  3. Institutions eliminate anarchy by creating world government
  4. Institutions reflect the interests of the strongest state

Explanation

Liberal institutionalists argue that institutions facilitate cooperation by lowering transaction costs, lengthening the shadow of the future and providing information and monitoring. They do not claim to abolish anarchy or to create world government.

Question 15International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which factor most directly increases the bargaining leverage of a state in asymmetric interdependence?

  1. A more extensive cultural exchange programme
  2. A longer history of diplomatic relations
  3. A larger population than the partner
  4. Control over a resource the partner cannot easily replace Correct answer.

Explanation

Asymmetric interdependence gives leverage to the side that can impose costs or withhold benefits at lower cost to itself. The key is the availability of substitutes, so control over a hard-to-replace resource matters more than population, history or cultural ties.

Question 16International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which feature distinguishes a collective security arrangement from a traditional alliance?

  1. Commitments apply against any aggressor within the group Correct answer.
  2. Members pledge neutrality in all conflicts
  3. Commitments target a specific external adversary
  4. Members pool their armed forces under one command

Explanation

Collective security commits members to oppose aggression by any member, whereas alliances are directed against identified external threats. Neutrality pledges and pooled command structures are not defining features of either arrangement.

Question 17International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

A state signs a treaty but later argues it is not bound because its domestic legislature never approved ratification. Under the law of treaties, which point is most relevant?

  1. Whether the treaty contained a preamble
  2. Whether the treaty was registered with the United Nations
  3. Whether the state's representative gave consent without authority and whether other parties were notified Correct answer.
  4. Whether the state is a democracy

Explanation

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties addresses how consent to be bound is expressed and limits the ability to invoke internal law for failing to consent. The relevant question is whether the representative had authority and whether other parties were informed.

Question 18International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which situation best illustrates the operation of the principle of universal jurisdiction?

  1. A state prosecutes its own nationals for crimes committed at home
  2. A state extradites a suspect to the state where the crime occurred
  3. A state requests INTERPOL to issue a notice for a suspect
  4. A state prosecutes a foreign suspect for grave crimes regardless of where they occurred Correct answer.

Explanation

Universal jurisdiction allows a state to prosecute certain grave crimes, such as piracy, genocide or torture, even without a link of territory or nationality. The other options describe territorial jurisdiction, extradition and police cooperation.

Question 19International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which proposition is central to Wendt's constructivist claim that anarchy is what states make of it?

  1. Anarchy is equivalent to a hierarchy of states
  2. Anarchy is irrelevant to international politics
  3. Anarchy does not dictate fixed interests; these are produced through interaction Correct answer.
  4. Anarchy necessarily produces self-help behaviour

Explanation

Wendt argues that self-help and enmity are not inherent in anarchy but are constructed through repeated interaction and shared understandings. Different cultures of anarchy, such as Hobbesian, Lockean or Kantian, can therefore produce different logics of behaviour.

Question 20International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which outcome is most consistent with the predictions of hegemonic stability theory?

  1. Trade openness increases as power becomes evenly distributed
  2. Small states alone determine the rules of the trading system
  3. An open economic order is more likely when a single dominant power underwrites it Correct answer.
  4. Economic openness is unrelated to the distribution of power

Explanation

Hegemonic stability theory holds that a dominant state able to supply public goods such as an open trading system and a stable currency underpins liberal economic order. As hegemony erodes, the theory predicts greater fragmentation and protectionism.

Question 21International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which concept best describes the ability of an actor to shape the agenda so that certain issues never reach decision?

  1. Soft power
  2. Hard power
  3. Second face of power Correct answer.
  4. Structural adjustment

Explanation

The second face of power, associated with Bachrach and Baratz, concerns non-decision-making: keeping grievances off the agenda. Hard and soft power concern influence through coercion or attraction, and structural adjustment is an economic policy programme.

Question 22International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which development most clearly reflects the shift from a unipolar to a more multipolar distribution of power?

  1. Several regional powers acquiring the capacity to shape outcomes across multiple issue areas Correct answer.
  2. One state maintaining a decisive lead in all dimensions of power
  3. Small states delegating all foreign policy to a single hegemon
  4. A general decline in military spending worldwide

Explanation

Multipolarity describes a system with several centres of comparable capability that can shape outcomes across regions and issues. A single dominant power indicates unipolarity, while delegation to a hegemon and falling spending do not by themselves indicate multipolarity.

Question 23International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which statement best captures the English School idea of an international society?

  1. States act only according to the distribution of material power
  2. States are united by a single sovereign world government
  3. States share common rules and institutions despite operating in anarchy Correct answer.
  4. States are purely economic units competing in a global market

Explanation

The English School distinguishes an international system of interacting states from an international society in which states share norms, rules and institutions such as diplomacy, sovereignty and international law. This shared framework coexists with anarchy rather than replacing it.

Question 24International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

What is the main function of the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement mechanism?

  1. Adjudicating trade disputes and authorising retaliation for non-compliance Correct answer.
  2. Providing emergency balance-of-payments loans
  3. Setting global interest rates
  4. Coordinating monetary policy among central banks

Explanation

The WTO dispute settlement mechanism adjudicates complaints that a member has breached trade rules and, where a member fails to comply, permits authorised retaliation. Monetary policy coordination and balance-of-payments lending belong to other institutions.

Question 25International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which factor most strongly limits the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping operations?

  1. The prohibition on cooperating with regional organisations
  2. Dependence on member states for troops, funding and political consent Correct answer.
  3. The absence of a legal mandate under the UN Charter
  4. The lack of any civilian component in missions

Explanation

Peacekeeping depends on voluntary contributions of troops and financing and on the consent of host states and Security Council members, which constrains rapid and robust action. Mandates exist under the Charter, civilian components are common and cooperation with regional bodies is encouraged.

Question 26International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which concept describes the situation in which rising powers seek to overturn the rules of the existing order while established powers defend them, producing systemic tension?

  1. Power transition Correct answer.
  2. Regime complexity
  3. Hedging
  4. Bandwagoning

Explanation

A power transition occurs when a rising state approaches or surpasses the dominant state in capabilities and becomes dissatisfied with the existing order, generating conflict-prone tension. It differs from alignment strategies such as bandwagoning or hedging, which describe how states respond to power rather than the distributional shift itself.

Question 27International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which theory holds that international institutions persist and matter because they reduce uncertainty, lower transaction costs, and create expectations of reciprocity among self-interested states?

  1. Offensive realism
  2. Marxist dependency theory
  3. Neoliberal institutionalism Correct answer.
  4. Classical geopolitics

Explanation

Neoliberal institutionalism accepts the realist premise of self-interested states but argues that institutions alter incentives by providing information, monitoring, and repeated interaction. This lowers the fear of cheating and makes cooperation rational even without shared values or a central authority.

Question 28International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

A government negotiates a climate agreement but deliberately keeps its emission target vague so that it can adjust policy if domestic costs rise. Which concept best captures this behaviour?

  1. Strategic ambiguity Correct answer.
  2. Audience costs
  3. Tit-for-tat reciprocity
  4. Credible commitment

Explanation

Strategic ambiguity means deliberately leaving obligations imprecise so that the state retains flexibility and avoids being bound to costly specifics. It contrasts with credible commitment, where a state signals resolve by making defection expensive.

Question 29International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which concept refers to the spread of norms and ideas across borders through transnational advocacy networks, shaping how states define their interests?

  1. Socialisation Correct answer.
  2. Autarky
  3. Balance of power
  4. Deterrence

Explanation

Socialisation describes the process by which actors internalise norms and appropriate behaviour through interaction with others, including transnational advocacy networks. Constructivists use it to explain how state interests change rather than being fixed by material power alone.

Question 30International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Two states share a river. Upstream diversion reduces downstream flow, and each state's unilateral use lowers total water availability. Which concept best characterises the structure of this problem?

  1. Common-pool resource problem Correct answer.
  2. Prisoner's dilemma with a single interaction
  3. Collective security failure
  4. Security dilemma

Explanation

A common-pool resource is rivalrous but difficult to exclude users from, so each actor's extraction imposes costs on others and can lead to depletion. The river's flow is subtractable across users, matching this structure rather than a purely strategic arms race.

Question 31International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which development best illustrates the concept of complex interdependence between two states?

  1. A single dominant issue, territorial defence, structures all their dealings
  2. One state maintains a clear military advantage that dictates the terms of trade
  3. Both states abandon diplomatic relations and rely on self-sufficiency
  4. Multiple channels connect their societies, force is unusable on most issues, and no hierarchy of issues dominates Correct answer.

Explanation

Complex interdependence has three defining features: multiple channels of contact, absence of force or its low salience on many issues, and the absence of a fixed hierarchy among issues. These conditions make outcomes depend on issue-specific bargaining rather than military dominance.

Question 32International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

A state refuses to sign a treaty banning a weapons class but later complies with its norms anyway because of reputational pressure. Which concept best explains this outcome?

  1. Strategic trade theory
  2. Hard balancing
  3. Norm cascade Correct answer.
  4. Deterrence by denial

Explanation

A norm cascade occurs when a norm spreads rapidly and states adopt it even without formal legal binding, driven by legitimacy and reputational concerns. Compliance without ratification shows norms operating independently of treaty commitment.

Question 33International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which statement best distinguishes realism from liberalism in their accounts of international order?

  1. Realism focuses on transnational networks, while liberalism focuses on the balance of power
  2. Realism holds that states never cooperate, while liberalism holds that states always cooperate
  3. Realism emphasises economic class conflict, while liberalism emphasises military strategy
  4. Realism sees order as resting on power and self-interest, while liberalism sees institutions and domestic politics as capable of sustaining cooperation Correct answer.

Explanation

Realism treats order as a product of power distribution and self-interested calculation under anarchy, while liberalism argues that institutions, interdependence, and domestic preferences can generate durable cooperation. The contrast is about the sources of order, not an absolute divide over whether cooperation occurs.

Question 34International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which concept describes the ability of a state to convert its material capabilities into favourable outcomes by shaping the rules of an institution?

  1. Negative sovereignty
  2. Reciprocity
  3. Structural power Correct answer.
  4. Sovereign equality

Explanation

Structural power is the capacity to shape the frameworks, rules, and agendas within which others operate, rather than merely winning bargains within given rules. It explains why materially strong states can secure advantages that go beyond issue-by-issue negotiation.

Question 35International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

A regional organisation requires member states to accept majority voting on trade rules that become directly binding domestically. Which feature does this most clearly demonstrate?

  1. Supranational authority Correct answer.
  2. Sovereign equality in practice
  3. Non-intervention
  4. Intergovernmental bargaining

Explanation

Supranational authority exists where decisions can be taken by majority and bind members domestically without unanimous consent. This transfers a degree of sovereignty upward, distinguishing it from purely intergovernmental arrangements requiring unanimity.

Question 36International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which concept best explains why states may comply with international law even without an enforcement mechanism?

  1. The absence of any strategic interaction between states
  2. The guaranteed impartiality of all great powers
  3. The automatic military enforcement by international courts
  4. Legitimacy of the legal process and reputational costs of violation Correct answer.

Explanation

Compliance is often explained by the perceived legitimacy of legal rules and processes, combined with reputational costs that affect future cooperation. International courts generally lack independent enforcement power, so compliance rests on these social and strategic mechanisms.

Question 37International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

A state joins a multilateral export-control arrangement mainly to gain information about others' capabilities and to signal restraint. Which function of international institutions does this illustrate?

  1. Enforcement of binding judicial rulings
  2. Creation of a single currency
  3. Redistribution of territory
  4. Provision of information and reassurance Correct answer.

Explanation

Institutions can reduce uncertainty by generating and sharing information, allowing states to signal intentions and reassure others about their behaviour. This informational function is distinct from enforcement, which requires coercive authority.

Question 38International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which argument best explains why a hegemon might accept constraints on its own behaviour through multilateral institutions?

  1. Institutions remove the need for the hegemon to maintain any military capability
  2. Institutions guarantee that all members will have identical preferences
  3. Institutions can lock in favourable rules and make the hegemon's commitments credible to others Correct answer.
  4. Institutions automatically eliminate the hegemon's material advantages

Explanation

A dominant state may accept institutional constraints because institutions can entrench rules that favour it and make its promises credible, reducing others' incentives to balance against it. The hegemon trades some short-term discretion for longer-term stability and influence.

Question 39International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which situation best illustrates the operation of the security dilemma under conditions of uncertainty?

  1. Two states sign a mutual defence pact against a common adversary
  2. A state builds defensive fortifications that neighbours interpret as preparation for attack and respond with their own build-up Correct answer.
  3. A state joins a customs union to gain market access
  4. A state accepts an adverse trade ruling to preserve institutional access

Explanation

The security dilemma arises when measures intended to be defensive are read as threatening because intentions are uncertain, prompting countermeasures and a spiral of insecurity. Mutual defence pacts and economic choices do not involve this misperception-driven escalation.

Question 40International Relations: Theories, Concepts and Contemporary Issues

Which proposition best captures the constructivist argument that international structures are socially constructed rather than purely material?

  1. Anarchy is eliminated once states create formal institutions
  2. Anarchy necessarily produces self-help because of the distribution of capabilities
  3. Anarchy has no fixed logic; its meaning depends on shared ideas and identities that states reproduce through interaction Correct answer.
  4. Anarchy is irrelevant because states always pursue absolute gains

Explanation

Constructivists argue that anarchy does not dictate a single logic of interaction; its meaning is produced by shared ideas, identities, and practices that states reproduce. The distribution of capabilities alone cannot explain why some anarchic systems are conflictual and others cooperative.

Question 41Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

Which principle is most closely associated with Bangladesh's constitutional approach to foreign relations?

  1. Collective security under a single superpower
  2. Non-alignment with any regional organisation
  3. Friendship to all and malice towards none Correct answer.
  4. Strategic autonomy through nuclear deterrence

Explanation

Bangladesh's foreign policy is guided by the constitutional commitment to peaceful coexistence and the well-known formulation of friendship to all and malice towards none, first articulated by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This principle shapes its emphasis on non-interference, peaceful settlement of disputes and balanced relations with major powers.

Question 42Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

The 1972 India-Bangladesh Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace was signed for an initial period of how many years?

  1. 5
  2. 50
  3. 25 Correct answer.
  4. 10

Explanation

The treaty signed in March 1972 between Bangladesh and India was concluded for a duration of twenty-five years, with provision for renewal. It symbolised the close post-liberation relationship and covered cooperation in economic, cultural and security matters.

Question 43Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

Which dispute was resolved through the 2014 arbitration award involving Bangladesh and India?

  1. Teesta river water allocation
  2. Maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal Correct answer.
  3. Land boundary enclaves exchange
  4. Ganges water sharing at Farakka

Explanation

The Permanent Court of Arbitration issued an award in 2014 delimiting the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and India in the Bay of Bengal. It settled competing claims over the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Question 44Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

The 2015 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement primarily accomplished which of the following?

  1. Exchange of enclaves and simplification of the boundary Correct answer.
  2. Creation of a joint river commission
  3. Demarcation of the maritime boundary
  4. Establishment of a free trade area

Explanation

The Land Boundary Agreement provided for the exchange of adversely possessed enclaves and the settlement of undemarcated boundary segments. It resolved a long-standing territorial dispute dating back to partition.

Question 45Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

Under the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, the sharing arrangement between Bangladesh and India was set for a period of how many years?

  1. 20
  2. 30 Correct answer.
  3. 10
  4. 15

Explanation

The Ganges Treaty of 1996 established a thirty-year water-sharing arrangement at Farakka, with a review clause. It replaced earlier short-term arrangements and provided a formula for dry-season flows.

Question 46Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

Which river's water-sharing agreement with India has remained pending due to the absence of a signed treaty?

  1. Meghna
  2. Teesta Correct answer.
  3. Brahmaputra
  4. Karnaphuli

Explanation

Bangladesh and India reached an interim arrangement on Teesta flows in 2011, but a full treaty has not been concluded. The issue remains a sensitive bilateral matter tied to upstream diversion concerns.

Question 47Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

Bangladesh's readmission to the United Nations in 1974 was significant because it

  1. granted Bangladesh a permanent Security Council seat
  2. confirmed widespread international recognition of the new state Correct answer.
  3. ended all foreign aid dependence
  4. created a regional security alliance

Explanation

UN membership in 1974 marked broad international acceptance of Bangladesh as a sovereign state. It followed recognition by major powers and helped consolidate its diplomatic standing.

Question 48Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

Bangladesh is a leading contributor to which UN activity, reflecting a central pillar of its foreign policy?

  1. Peacekeeping operations Correct answer.
  2. Nuclear disarmament inspections
  3. International criminal prosecutions
  4. Maritime boundary arbitration

Explanation

Bangladesh has been among the largest troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions. This reflects its commitment to multilateralism and international peace and security.

Question 49Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

Which organisation, founded in 1985 in Dhaka, is a regional cooperation body in South Asia?

  1. SAARC Correct answer.
  2. ASEAN
  3. OIC
  4. BIMSTEC

Explanation

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was established in Dhaka in 1985. It aims to promote regional cooperation among South Asian states.

Question 50Foreign Policy of Bangladesh and Bilateral Relations

Bangladesh's membership in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is best explained by which foreign policy objective?

  1. Pursuing collective defence against neighbours
  2. Securing a permanent seat on the Security Council
  3. Joining a customs union
  4. Strengthening solidarity with Muslim-majority states Correct answer.

Explanation

Bangladesh joined the OIC to build solidarity with Muslim-majority countries and to gain diplomatic support on issues such as the Rohingya crisis. The organisation serves as a platform for political and economic cooperation rather than collective defence.