1. Should Russia be expelled from the G20?
2. How can President Gotabaya Rajapaksa end Sri Lanka’s economic difficulties?
3. Why is Russia losing so many generals in the Ukrainian conflict?
4. Should Arab governments prioritize the Israeli-Palestinian peace process or preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon?
5. Would a Chinese-Solomon Islands security pact constitute a grave threat to Australia’s national security?
6. Does NATO need France?
7. Is globalization nearing its end?
8. Will the AfCFTA provide a significant economic boost to participating African nations?
9. Why is the UAE rehabilitating Syrian President Bashar al-Assad?
10. Will Jokowi try to extend his presidential tenure?
Category: International Extemp Page 9 of 59
Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd (pronounced “prepped”). Prepd is building debate technology that helps extempers and congressional debaters research, practice, and compete. Visit www.prepd.in to learn more.
This week’s R&D from Prepd covers Ukrainian refugees. CBS News reported yesterday that 3.6 million Ukrainians have fled the country due to Russia’s invasion, while the BBC recently noted that another 6.5 million are believed to be displaced inside of the country. The Biden administration announced that the U.S. would be accepting 100,000 refugees and pledged additional monies for assistance. Neighboring countries like Poland have accepted the bulk of Ukraine’s refugees thus far.
The United States will welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians, as Russia’s monthlong assault has forced more than three million to flee their country, and with millions more likely to seek safe haven outside Ukraine. https://t.co/L0ZnRhWUyk
— NYT National News (@NYTNational) March 24, 2022
Europe is currently experiencing the largest movement of refugees since World War II. The willingness to help is vast and armies of volunteers are helping out as governments begin mobilizing resources. But will it be enough? https://t.co/HEd7VWzc4X
— SPIEGEL English (@SPIEGEL_English) March 23, 2022
The figure, outlined Sunday by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, amounts to about a quarter of the prewar population, which the World Bank estimated at 44 million in 2020. https://t.co/TIkidDI4JB
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 21, 2022
1. How will China’s latest COVID outbreaks affect the global economy?
2. What should a negotiated solution to Russia’s war in Ukraine look like?
3. Is Spain making a mistake in recognizing Morocco’s plan for governing Western Sahara?
4. How seriously should Western nations take Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats?
5. Has globalization made autocracies stronger?
6. With less than a month to go, which two candidates will make the French presidential runoff?
7. What steps can the international community take to end human trafficking?
8. How will Brazil’s blocking of Telegram impact this year’s presidential election?
9. Is it fair to characterize Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan as a democratic reformer?
10. Will Gabriel Boric enjoy a successful presidential term?
Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd (pronounced “prepped”). Prepd is building debate technology that helps extempers and congressional debaters research, practice, and compete. Visit www.prepd.in to learn more.
This week’s R&D from Prepd covers Chilean politics. Gabriel Boric, a former student activist, was sworn in as Chile’s new president last week. Boric campaigned on a platform of social and environmental justice, pledging to move Chile away from the free market economic model of General Augusto Pinochet, who led Chile from December 1974-March 1990. Markets are wary of his plans because of his association with communist groups, but Boric argues that his reforms will create more growth in the nation’s economy and be budget neutral.
On Friday, Gabriel Boric was officially sworn in as Chile’s president.
— World Politics Review (@WPReview) March 14, 2022
His success will depend on “his ability to forge partnerships beyond the ranks of the far-left political family from which he has emerged,” wrote Cristóbal Kaltwasser last December.https://t.co/ghth7TptEv
For now, all eyes will be on Chile’s boyish Gabriel Boric https://t.co/gcW2S4xmEe
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) March 14, 2022
Chile’s Boric pledges to balance social reforms with fiscal caution https://t.co/9hIXOEsyrh pic.twitter.com/TGWkTdqEUq
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 15, 2022
New Chilean President Gabriel Boric is set to be sworn in on Friday as the country’s youngest ever president. Mr. Boric has big plans to transform the country’s market-oriented economic model with progressive social reform and a focus on fighting … https://t.co/H09B21fZkQ
— The Christian Science Monitor (@csmonitor) March 11, 2022
Gabriel Boric: The president on a mission to breakaway from Chile’s Pinochet past https://t.co/qOrMKVMTK4
— The Times (@thetimes) March 12, 2022
Chile’s latest revolution: President Boric pledges gender equality https://t.co/nP9DTo9HO8
— The Independent (@Independent) March 13, 2022
Left-leaning former student leader Gabriel Boric vowed to improve the lives of all Chileans and attack deep inequality that has sparked massive protests, hours after being inaugurated Friday as the youngest president in the country’s historyhttps://t.co/ayVAIU0GVY
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) March 12, 2022
Boric sworn in as Chile’s youngest-ever President: “Violation of Human Rights will never happen again” https://t.co/Sr2Wq50Og2
— MercoPress (@MercoPressNews) March 12, 2022
Gabriel Boric’s government may waste money on industrial policy and regulate business so much that it cannot prosper https://t.co/Vr49VBvC26
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) March 12, 2022
Chile’s moderate central bank chief, Mario Marcel, has been appointed finance minister by incoming president Gabriel Boric. Analysts say the move signals Boric, the social democrat, is more modern and pragmatic than anti-market https://t.co/jvqg1ilNI6
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) January 21, 2022
1. Should the ICC indict Vladimir Putin?
2. To what degree can the West continue to provide military support to Ukraine without escalating the conflict beyond its borders?
3. Why did Yoon Suk Yeol win South Korea’s presidential election?
4. Is the ongoing war in Ukraine doing lasting damage to the United Nations’ credibility?
5. How will Turkey’s move to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia impact the tense relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan?
6. Is a new “pink tide” poised to sweep across Latin America this year?
7. Should the world’s central banks ignore rising energy costs?
8. What impact would the removal of U.S. sanctions have on Venezuela’s economy?
9. Is China’s economic growth target too ambitious?
10. Will punishing economic sanctions make Russia the next North Korea?
1. Will foreign fighters help Ukraine turn the tide against Russia?
2. In light of economic difficulties, should China continue its present rate of military spending?
3. Are Pakistan’s women’s marches accomplishing their objectives?
4. Should NATO impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants?
5. Will Danish voters approve joining the EU’s defense policy?
6. What steps can Moldova take to protect its territorial integrity and deter Russian aggression?
7. Is the Sahel the new home of international terrorism?
8. If North Korea developed a spy satellite, what impact would that have on East Asian security?
9. How can the international community alleviate food shortages that will come from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
10. Are Germany’s green energy efforts failing?
1. Are the Baltics next?
2. Does Russia’s invasion of Ukraine illustrate the need for procedural reforms at the UN Security Council?
3. How will international sanctions against Russia affect the global economy?
4. Should Finland join NATO?
5. Will refugees from Ukraine push the politics of Eastern European countries further to the political right?
6. How can the democratic world regain its footing against the world’s authoritarians?
7. Why is inflation surging in Brazil?
8. Has globalization made the ability to sanction bad international actors harder?
9. Should Cambodia cast its lot with China or the United States?
10. Is Kuwait backsliding on human rights?
1. Was France’s mission against jihadists in the Sahel a success?
2. To what degree is rising inflation a threat to Erdogan’s leadership?
3. Should OPEC continue to allow oil prices to rise?
4. Could Russia win a new Cold War with the West?
5. Has inflation become a bigger threat to the global economy than the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic?
6. Does a safer world require a high amount of American military spending?
7. Has the British Conservative Party become too fractured to govern effectively?
8. Is the international community doing enough to stop a famine in the Horn of Africa?
9. In hindsight, was NATO expansion into Eastern Europe a bad idea?
10. Should the IOC enact more punishing sanctions on Russia?
Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd (pronounced “prepped”). Prepd is building debate technology that helps extempers and congressional debaters research, practice, and compete. Visit www.prepd.in to learn more.
This week’s R&D covers war tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany have made diplomatic overtures to Russian President Vladimir Putin to avert war with Ukraine. Russia is demanding that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) not made Ukraine a member and draw back some of its forces in Eastern Europe, conditions that Western countries have said are unacceptable. Even though reports in the middle of the week suggested that Russia was drawing back some of its troops, other accounts have questioned those assertions, noting that Russia maintains a sizeable troop buildup in Crimea, on its proper border with Ukraine, and along the border that Ukraine shares with Belarus. Since Russia controls 10% of the world’s oil supply, any war that causes a disruption to those supplies, especially because the United States is threatening punitive sanctions on Russia if it invades, it could cause gas prices in the U.S. to rise.
Russia could carry out electronic warfare as part of an invasion. Here’s what to know about this invisible kind of military technology. https://t.co/g35caObmUa
— Popular Science (@PopSci) February 18, 2022
Russia expelled the deputy U.S. ambassador, the State Department said, in what U.S. officials called an “escalatory step” that could limit diplomatic solutions for the crisis on Ukraine’s borders. https://t.co/JjUWYL7ZOV
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) February 18, 2022
Ukrainian President Zelensky’s attempt at a patriotism-boosting Unity Day received lackluster attention among Ukrainians as the threat from Russia remains, writes @jacklosh from Kyiv. https://t.co/Wy1bNFMj9B
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) February 18, 2022
1. How would a Russian invasion of Ukraine affect the political standing of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz?
2. Has Justin Trudeau handled the “Freedom Convoy” protests poorly?
3. To what degree is the global economy on the verge of crashing?
4. Should Russia annex Belarus?
5. What should Narendra Modi do if the BJP does poorly in India’s state elections this year?
6. Are African states doing a better job controlling the COVID-19 pandemic?
7. How can the Mexican government better protect journalists?
8. What will be the economic impact of the ICJ’s judgment against Uganda?
9. Do international sanctions work?
10. Should Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. be allowed to stand as a candidate for the Filipino presidency?
Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd (pronounced “prepped”). Prepd is building debate technology that helps extempers and congressional debaters research, practice, and compete. Visit www.prepd.in to learn more.
This week’s R&D provides resources on the Ottawa truck protests. For the past week truckers who are protesting the Canadian government’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for those crossing the U.S.-Canadian border have blocked traffic in the Canadian capital city. They have been joined by other far-right groups and opponents of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. The protests also played a role in the ouster of Erin O’Toole, the moderate leader of Canada’s Conservative Party. There are also fears by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that similar protests could occur in the United States, causing economic chaos.
Explainer: How Ottawa’s anti-vaccine mandate protests are spreading globally https://t.co/1eTffYVGoc pic.twitter.com/zFRS3GjqCN
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 10, 2022
A convoy of trucks and other vehicles operated by people protesting Covid-19 vaccine mandates and social restrictions are clogging downtown Ottawa. Here’s what you need to know. https://t.co/N9j37yajy1
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 10, 2022
The optics of Canada’s usually placid and orderly national capital overtaken by truckers and their supporters protesting coronavirus restrictions has shaken the country. https://t.co/rilknmOiDU
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) February 9, 2022
1. Has India experienced a “lost decade”?
2. Should Great Britain abolish the monarchy after the death of Queen Elizabeth II?
3. What does the ouster of Erin O’Toole mean for the future of Canada’s Conservative Party?
4. Are the EU’s PIGS on the road to recovery?
5. Should the IOC create a permanent location for future Olympics?
6. Does Ukraine need to join NATO?
7. Will central bankers around the world have to take aggressive steps to combat inflation?
8. Is the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi a major blow to ISIS?
9. Should countries abandon “zero COVID” policies?
10. Is it in China’s best interest to form a closer relationship with Russia?
1. Should Western powers agree never to let Ukraine join NATO?
2. Is organic farming a major threat to the global climate?
3. What changes does the EU need to make to its energy policy?
4. Will there be more military coups in West Africa before the end of 2022?
5. What does an inability to choose a new president reveal about the state of Italy’s political system?
6. Will the EU win its trade dispute with China at the WTO?
7. Does the UN need to be playing a part in the growing crisis in Ukraine?
8. Will the U.S. decision not to give military aid to Egypt create instability in the Middle East?
9. Does Germany need to embrace a more hawkish foreign policy?
10. Would Argentina’s economy improve with less government interference?
1. If Russia invades, can Ukraine fight them to a draw with Western aid?
2. Why is there a growing food crisis in the Horn of Africa?
3. If Boris Johnson resigns or is ousted, who should British Conservatives choose to replace him?
4. How should NATO respond if Russia makes a “minor incursion” into Ukraine?
5. Will hosting the Olympics create as many political problems in China as it did for Japan?
6. Should the European Union commit itself to stronger border enforcement?
7. How can the international community best assist African nations in vaccinating their populations against COVID-19?
8. Is Venezuela’s political opposition too divided to make substantial change in the country?
9. Are Iran’s proxy forces becoming more dangerous?
10. Is the BJP failing to protect India’s Muslim population?
Today’s R&D is brought to you by Prepd (pronounced “prepped”). Prepd is building debate technology that helps extempers and congressional debaters research, practice, and compete. Visit www.prepd.in to learn more.
This week’s R&D covers British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s political problems. Johnson is under fire for hosting gatherings with his staff at No. 10 Downing Street while the rest of Great Britain was locked down under COVID-19 restrictions in spring 2020. The more egregious allegations are that Johnson’s staff partied before the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, which had social distance restrictions. Johnson has told the British Parliament that the gatherings were for work and were not social, but the public is skeptical, as are members of the British Conservative Party. Some Conservative MPs are calling on Johnson to resign, noting that opinion polls are showing the Conservative trailing the Labour Party by double digits. Johnson has so far refused and stated earlier in the week that he would fight any no-confidence vote.
Prime minister odds: The favourites to replace Boris Johnson 👀 https://t.co/zFhIT298CL
— The Independent (@Independent) January 19, 2022
🔎 What could a no-confidence vote mean for Boris Johnson?
All the questions you may have, answered 👇 https://t.co/igXeqacQX1
— The Times (@thetimes) January 19, 2022
Vote of no confidence, resignation or survival: what next for Boris Johnson? https://t.co/fTCwVoydvS
— The Guardian (@guardian) January 19, 2022