Answer:
Nineteenth Century - Belgium had a colony in Africa: the belgian Congo. The Belgian leadership treated the native people of the Congo in an extremely brutal manner, most people were essentially slaves. Some workers were mutilated if they did not meet certain quotas, or if they "misbehaved".
Twentieth Century - France and Britain came to dominate several areas in the Middle East after the Ottoman Empire collapsed. The French Mandate in particular, created the countries of Syria and the Lebanon.
The problem was that the borders of these countries were created without regard for ethnic and religious differences.
For this reason, modern Syria and Lebanon are very conflictive countries (Syria is in a civil war, Lebanon had a civil war from 1975 to 1990) because of that.
Twenty-first century - The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 under the false claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction hidden in its territory. While the U.S. army managed to depose the former dictator, Sadam Hussein, the invasion caused the deaths of thousands of American Soldiers and Iraqi citizens, and Iraq continues to be a unstable country up to this day.
Perry approached Japan in a somewhat threatening manner. He sought after them with a navy vessel at his side and basically told them to open their trade relations or else. =)
The Tet offensive altered public opinion of the war because the "<span>(B) U.S. suffered heavy losses". Although it ended with a US and South Vietnamese victory, many Americans grew wary of the costs. </span>
Connecting past and present helps you see how humans have chosen to deal with conflict, which can lead to war, political debate, neighborhood riots, discrimination, etc. But also linking past and present helps us see how humans have solved any problems they have come across. Whether it be an economic issue, something that effects many people, or a personal issue.
The criticism of the Masons that was not common was transparency in the intent and implementation of their policies. The answer is D.
