Category: International Extemp Page 36 of 58

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of March 3rd-9th, 2014

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HOTtopics1. Can the UN Security Council calm the Ukrainian crisis?
2. Is democracy beating a global retreat?
3. What is the best way for Northern Ireland to deal with the unsolved crimes of the “Troubles”?
4. Has Nigeria’s army failed to protect the population from Boko Haram?
5. How can Argentina increase the level of foreign investment in its economy?
6. Can Sushil Koirala break Nepal’s political deadlock?
7. Will declining economic growth provide a political assist to India’s nationalists?
8. Should Mexico extradite Joaquin Guzman?
9. Will Andrus Ansip’s resignation help the Reform Party win next year’s Estonian elections?
10. Is the ETA really ready to disarm?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of February 24th-March 2nd, 2014

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HOTtopics1. Is Ukraine heading for a partition?
2. What impact will the arrest of Joaquin Guzman have on the Mexican drug trade?
3. How will growing Saudi-Pakistani ties affect the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East?
4. Have international sanctions failed to reduce Robert Mugabe’s hold on Zimbabwe?
5. Has the Bolivian government done enough to respond to recent floods?
6. Matteo Renzi: The answer to Italy’s political and economic dysfunction?
7. If Scotland votes for independence, is it fit to join the European Union?
8. How should Vladimir Putin approach the Ukrainian situation?
9. Did Maduro’s government err by imprisoning Leopoldo Lopez?
10. Has China’s growing economic clout given it more leverage over how the rest of the world interacts with the Dalai Lama?

Japanese Foreign Relations with China & South Korea (2014)

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East Asia is gradually becoming one of the world’s flash points for future conflict.  China is extending its territorial claims into the Straits of Taiwan and the South China Sea, North Korea has nuclear capabilities and threatens its neighbors, Japan is flirting with the idea of scrapping elements of its pacifist constitution and providing for its own defense, China continues to claim that Taiwan is part of its territory, and America’s allies in the region are skittish about whether the United States will truly come to their aid in a time of crisis.  Since World War II, the United States has built its defense network in East Asia on the back of close relations between Japan and South Korea and although this defense network was meant to oppose the Soviet Union during the Cold War, it is now becoming a system to contain the rise of communist China.  However, United States foreign policy in the region could unravel based on the steps that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who came to power in December 2012, decides to take.  Aggressive moves by Japan could produce a war that America has to commit forces to in the near future and its strained ties with South Korea over historical issues could complicate a strong American response to China and North Korea.

This topic brief will provide an explanation of Japanese foreign relations with China and South Korea.  It will discuss Japan’s relationship with both nations and then provide an explanation for how to handle questions related to whether a war in East Asia is becoming unavoidable.  The analysis contained in this brief can help international and United States extempers best grapple with questions about Japanese foreign policy and understand what motivates the power players in East Asia.

Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of February 17th-23rd, 2014

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HOTtopics1. Can Canada successfully balance its budget before 2015?
2. How can Cyprus be reunified?
3. Should African aid agencies adopt “results-oriented” agendas?
4. Are Turkish aspirations of joining the EU dead?
5. Will Lebanon’s new cabinet provide the nation with some much needed stability?
6. Why are the Syrian peace talks going nowhere?
7. How can Japan repair its diplomatic relationship with South Korea?
8. What impact will Moktada al-Sadr’s retirement have on Iraqi politics?
9. Is the Ukrainian protest movement collapsing?
10. Can diplomatic pressure force African nations to not enact anti-gay legislation?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of February 10th-16th, 2014

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HOTtopics1. Have the Sochi Olympics been a disaster?
2. Are African and French peacekeepers doing enough to contain religious violence in the Central African Republic?
3. What steps should the Bosnian government take to lower the nation’s unemployment rate?
4. Why are civilian casualties on the rise in Afghanistan?
5. Would it be a mistake for Japan to abandon nuclear power?
6. Have protests against Yingluck Shinawatra failed?
7. Will Salvador Sanchez Ceren win El Salvador’s presidential run-off?
8. Is the ANC’s control of South African politics harming the nation?
9. How can China improve its environmental record?
10. Is the Catholic Church doing enough to act on sex abuse allegations?

Ukraine’s Political Crisis

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For the last two months demonstrations have been waged against the Ukrainian government of Victor Yanukovych.  Yanukovych, who was elected to the presidency in 2010, triggered the protests by turning down an association agreement with the European Union (EU).  The protests have only grown larger since Yanukovych’s governing party pushed through a controversial anti-protest law that stifled nearly all forms of free speech and to date, at least six people have died in clashes between protesters and security officials.  Geopolitical analysts see Ukraine as a diplomatic battleground between the West and Russia and Ukraine’s political problems often pit the EU and the United States against Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.  This means that questions about Ukraine often appear in rounds about Europe and American foreign policy over the course of a season and the current unrest in Ukraine makes it very likely that you could see a question about it at your state tournament.

This topic brief will provide essential details that you need to know about Ukraine when analyzing its politics, break down the causes and course of the unrest plaguing the country, and lay out some of the policy options present to Ukraine’s existing leadership, its political opposition, and international actors.

Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of February 3rd-9th, 2014

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HOTtopics1. How can Great Britain increase the number of women in Parliament?
2. What role should Turkey play in the Syrian civil war?
3. Is Spain’s economy on the mend?
4. Will 2014 spell disaster for the Venezuelan and Argentinian economies?
5. Should Great Britain leave the European Union?
6. How will Costa Rica’s presidential election impact its relationship with the United States?
7. Should Uganda pull its troops out of South Sudan?
8. Does Nicaragua’s new constitution weaken democratic institutions?
9. Is Nigeria fracturing along religious lines?
10. How should the EU handle the Ukrainian political crisis?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of January 27th-February 2nd, 2014

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HOTtopics1. How can the Argentinian government tame inflation?
2. Will the new Tunisian constitution bring stability to the country that began the Arab Spring?
3. Is the euro zone experiencing a fragile recovery?
4. How will marijuana legalization in the United States affect Mexico’s drug cartels?
5. Why are investors becoming anxious about emerging markets?
6. Should Abdelaziz Bouteflika seek a fourth term?
7. Will the recent agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front bring lasting peace?
8. How will stronger defense ties between India and Japan impact China’s foreign policy in Asia?
9. Is Ukraine’s opposition overreaching?
10. Has Egypt’s military government been beneficial for homosexuals?

Bangladeshi Political Violence

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On January 5th, Bangladesh held parliamentary elections that were marred by a widespread opposition party boycott and violence against supporters of Bangladesh’s governing Awami League and the country’s Hindu minority.  The international community condemned the violence and has urged the Awami League to reach a political agreement with its main rival, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) so that new elections can be held to create a legitimate government.  Thus far, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has shown little willingness to compromise with the opposition.  Bangladesh has been one of the global economic success stories since 1990 and has successfully reduced levels of poverty through international trade agreements.  However, the recent political violence could ruin the country’s international image, its economic progress, and make it a center for Islamic extremism.

This topic brief will provide an overview of the basics of Bangladeshi politics, discuss the January 5th vote and the controversies surrounding it, and then point out some issues that extempers should be aware of as they continue to read about Bangladesh’s political situation.

Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of January 20th-26th-2014

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HOTtopics1. Have tigher border security measures implemented by Kim Jong-un negatively affected the North Korean economy?
2. Would a UN transitional administration bring stability to the Central African Republic?
3. Has the Special Tribunal for Lebanon been disappointing?
4. Does Australia need to work with Indonesia to reduce its number of asylum seekers?
5. How should the international community react to Nigeria’s anti-gay legislation?
6. Why are global religious tensions increasing?
7. Should the Mexican government work with or against vigilante groups to win its battle against the country’s drug cartels?
8. Will the “Geneva 2” talks produce a breakthrough with regards to the Syrian civil war?
9. Would the sectarian partition of Iraq enhance Middle Eastern stability?
10. Will the Awami League be forced to call early elections by the end of 2014?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of January 13th-19th, 2014

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HOTtopics1. How can Tony Abbott improve his approval ratings?
2. Will the murder of Monica Spear lead to significant changes in the way the Venezuelan government approaches the country’s high homicide rate?
3. Has Erdogan become a threat to Turkish democracy?
4. What steps does France need to take to stabalize Mali?
5. Has the world run out of answers on Syria?
6. Will General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi eventually run for the Egyptian presidency?
7. How will China’s new fishing rules in the South China Sea impact its relationship with Vietnam and the Philippines?
8. Will there be sizable political fallout for Francois Hollande after allegations of an affair with Julie Gayet?
9. What is Ariel Sharon’s legacy as it pertains to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?
10. Is an international treaty needed to prohibit private companies from claiming assets on the moon?

Sochi Olympic Concerns

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Last week, on December 29th and 30th, two suicide bombings in Volgograd, a Southern Russian city formerly known as Stalingrad, killed at least thirty-four people and sent at least fifty others to the hospital.  The town of Volgograd is located 400 miles from Sochi, where next month’s Winter Olympics will be held.  Although no group has taken responsibility for the attacks as of the time of this brief, Russian security forces and international experts believe that the suicide attacks are listen to terrorist groups in the North Caucasus region of Russia, whose Muslim population has long sought self-government.  Considering that Doku Umarov, a Chechen terrorist leader, proclaimed in July that he wanted to disrupt the Olympics, there are concerns in the international community that the Sochi Olympics would become a 2014 version of the 1972 Munich Games, which were marred by the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the hands of Palestinian terrorists.  Russian President Vladimir Putin is also facing international condemnation for his nation’s policies regarding homosexuals and the gradual erosion of democratic safeguards that were put in place after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.  Due to these issues, it would not be surprising to encounter questions at tournaments over the next six weeks about the Sochi Olympics and whether Russia is capable of protecting the athletes and tourists attending the event and how it should respond to international criticisms of its domestic policies.

This topic brief will discuss three of the most prominent concerns and controversies of the Sochi Olympics so that extempers will be better prepared to talk about these issues.  It will cover the security situation in Russia, the gay rights debate surrounding the Olympics, and Putin’s questionable human rights record.

Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of January 6th-12th, 2014

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HOTtopics1. Are the concerns of rich EU governments about the free movement of Romanians and Bulgarians justified?
2. How will right-wing populist parties remake the European political landscape in 2014?
3. NAFTA at 20: Did it measure up to expectations?
4. Should German companies provide more flexible working conditions for men with families?
5. Which country is best suited to take advantage of the growing hi-tech nature of the global economy?
6. What position should Pope Francis take on gay marriage?
7. How should ASEAN respond to the recent election violence in Bangladesh?
8. Who will become India’s next prime minister in May?
9. Will Scottish voters reject independence?
10. Should Netanyahu break from Likud and establish his own political party?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of December 30th, 2013-January 5th, 2014

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HOTtopics1. Who was the most important global personality of 2013?
2. How high is the risk of terrorism at the Sochi Olympics?
3. Is Syria backtracking from its internationally brokered chemical weapons deal?
4. How can the Israeli government create a stable border with Lebanon?
5. What will be the three most important news stories of 2014?
6. How can the Bank of Japan avoid negative economic fallout from a planned sales tax increase that will go into effect this April?
7. Will the Syrian refugee crisis create political turmoil in European and Arab governments in 2014?
8. How can the international community bring peace to South Sudan?
9. Have Brazil’s UPP units been effective?
10. Is nuclear power still the future of international energy?

2013 Venezuelan Municipal Elections & The Venezuelan Economy

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It has been a very tumultuous year in Venezuelan politics.  In March Hugo Chavez, who governed the country for fourteen years and attempted to create a vibrant socialist movement in Latin America called Bolivarian Socialism, died of cancer and his successor Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver and union activist, barely won the presidency in a disputed April election.  In the midst of high crime rates and poor economic problems, Venezuela held municipal elections for 337 mayoral seats and 2,435 city council officials on December 8th.  The opposition, named the Democratic Unity alliance (MUD), called for voters to reject members of Maduro’s Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and turned the election into a national referendum.  The election result ended up mixed, as PSUV won a higher percentage of ballots cast for its candidates, winning 49-43%, but the MUD won control of five of the country’s most populous cities, which include the capital city of Caracas.  The next round of national elections are not scheduled until 2015 and the opposition are hoping to recall Maduro from office by 2016.  However, the immediate result of the municipal elections may give Maduro some breathing room to consolidate his grip on power and handle Venezuela’s looming economic problems, which could impair the advancement of Bolivarian Socialism next year.

This topic brief will provide an overview of the municipal elections, explore Venezuela’s economic problems, and how the election may impact Maduro’s handling of his political opponents and the Venezuelan economy over the next year.

Readers are also encouraged to use the links below and in the related R&D to bolster their files about this topic.

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