What in the World?
A lot happened in 2022. Test yourself on all of it here.
See how well you remember the biggest wins, disasters, and wonders of 2022 in a special expanded edition of our international news quiz.
Have feedback? Email whatintheworld@foreignpolicy.com to let me know your thoughts.
See how well you remember the biggest wins, disasters, and wonders of 2022 in a special expanded edition of our international news quiz.
1. Less than a week into this year, protests erupted in which nation over an increase in fuel prices?
What is now remembered as “Bloody January” featured the most violent and intense protests in Kazakhstan’s 30-year history, Raushan Zhandayeva and Alimana Zhanmukanova explained during the crisis.
2. West of Kazakhstan, another crisis was brewing—and ultimately led to Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. Around how many Ukrainians have been displaced since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24?
Ukraine and its forces have proved much more resilient against Russian aggression than most observers initially anticipated, FP’s Jennifer Williams remembers in our year-end retrospective on the conflict.
3. In March, the Taliban lifted and then reimposed a ban on what?
The Taliban’s strict restrictions harken back to their previous 1996 to 2001 rule, FP’s Lynne O’Donnell reported days after the policy reversal.
4. As cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 surged around the world, China placed Shanghai under a strict lockdown. How long were residents of that city forced to remain in their homes?
China’s strict zero-COVID policy—which has now been retired—turned medical workers into collateral damage as they died from overwork, Yvaine Ye wrote in April.
5. This past summer, Europe faced one of its worst heat waves in history. Which of the following did not occur as a result?
States must implement more aggressive energy regulations and industrial policies to combat climate change, Noah Gordon argued in July.
6. Europeans weren’t the only ones who suffered the catastrophic consequences of climate change this year. How much of Pakistan was submerged by intense flooding in late August?
In September, FP’s editor in chief, Ravi Agrawal, spoke with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari about how the government is addressing the crisis.
7. On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion. Federally guaranteed reproductive rights in the United States are now on par with those of which countries?
The United States is one of only 11 countries to have restricted abortion access in the past three decades, FP documented. During that time, all of the other nations mentioned above have either expanded access to abortion or had it legal all along.
8. In August, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi embarked on the first trip by a U.S. House speaker to which nation since 1997?
The controversial visit further emboldened Chinese aggression toward Taiwan, Hilton Yip argued that month.
9. Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8 at the age of 96. She was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. How many years did Elizabeth serve as queen?
In her lifetime, Elizabeth oversaw the end of an empire, seven wars, and 15 British prime ministers, Owen Matthews remembers in our obituary.
10. Shortly thereafter, the United Kingdom said goodbye to its shortest-serving prime minister. How many days did Liz Truss spend in office before resigning on Oct. 20?
As Truss’s government became engulfed by chaos, a British tabloid livestreamed a 60-pence head of lettuce to see which would last longer. FP’s Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer reported in Situation Report that Truss “fought the lettuce—and the lettuce won.”
11. In September, tensions skyrocketed in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh when almost 100 Armenian and Azerbaijani service members died in a large-scale clash. Which country had brokered a 2020 cease-fire agreement between the two countries?
The renewed fighting risked overturning a new agreement to double Azerbaijan’s gas imports to the European Union, Maximilian Hess wrote.
12. Iranian security forces have killed hundreds of people in anti-government protests since September. What initially catalyzed the unrest?
Young people—especially women—are at the forefront of progressive change in Iran, Holly Dagres argued.
13. A coup in Burkina Faso at the end of September removed which interim president?
Violence in the Sahel is due to “the inability of state governments to provide services in all their territories, impunity for government officials who abuse civilians, and a lack of jobs,” FP’s Nosmot Gbadamosi wrote in Africa Brief following the coup.
14. Members of OPEC and other major oil exporters cut production by 2 million barrels per day starting on Oct. 5. Which country was not involved in the decision?
The verdict was a diplomatic blow to the West, which has accused Russia of weaponizing energy supplies in its war against Ukraine, FP’s Robbie Gramer, Anusha Rathi, and Christina Lu reported.
15. Oil production cuts are just the tip of the iceberg. Europeans are also struggling with skyrocketing natural gas prices. As winter sets in, the continent is expecting a shortfall of how many cubic meters of gas next year?
FP’s Adam Tooze predicted a bleak future for Europe in FP’s Ones and Tooze podcast, warning that the fallout of the energy crisis could last for years.
16. Chinese President Xi Jinping cemented a third term in office during October’s 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. What slip-up almost derailed the carefully choreographed event?
FP offered a behind-the-scenes look at the high-stakes Party Congress.
17. Brazil held presidential elections in October that saw former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva oust incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. How close was the runoff margin between the two?
Many Brazilians viewed the vote as the most important since the end of the country’s military dictatorship in 1985, FP’s Catherine Osborn reported from a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.
18. North Korea launched how many nuclear missiles over Japanese and South Korean territory on Nov. 2?
James M. Acton and Ankit Panda argued that recent changes to Pyongyang’s nuclear doctrine are dangerous.
19. Also in early November, South Africa negotiated a peace deal between the Ethiopian government and which paramilitary group?
The Tigray conflict featured evidence of human rights abuses and potential ethnic cleansing, Ilya Gridneff wrote just weeks before the peace deal was finalized.
20. In November and December, soccer fanatics from around the world delighted in the FIFA World Cup. The tournament was a contentious one, with host Qatar facing international condemnation for its rights abuses. How many countries had launched a formal plea in July for FIFA to change the World Cup’s location?
The appeal did not come from Western countries but from six fellow Arab states that claimed Qatar is a “base of terrorism.” But publicly shaming countries that commit rights abuses is not always an effective strategy to stop them, Jamie Gruffydd-Jones argued.
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Alexandra Sharp is a deputy copy editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @AlexandraSSharp
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