Category: Topic Brief Page 11 of 16

Topic Brief: 2009 Afghan Elections

On September 1, 2009

In International Extemp, Topic Brief

Two weeks ago, the nation of Afghanistan held its second presidential election since the U.S. invasion of the country in 2001. President Hamid Karzai was looking for another term in office against 39 other candidates, the most notable of which was Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, a ethnic Tajik who was a former foreign minister in the Afghan government. The election was seen as a measuring stick of how stable, or unstable, Afghanistan has become over the last several years.

By most military estimates, Afghanistan is in danger of being lost. Years of ignoring the country’s internal development due to the war in Iraq have allowed warlords to continue to hold control of parts of the country and the Taliban to spread out. Areas in northern and western Afghanistan which had before been pacified by American troops and NATO forces are now under more influence from the Taliban. Afghan experts are fearing that a Taliban insurgency could become a wider rebellion against the Afghan government.

While the Afghan election result is still uncertain and it is possible that there will be a runoff in October, extempers would be wise to consider the possibilities of the result and the impact the result will have on U.S. Afghan policy, the war in Afghanistan, and the country’s internal political structure. As such, this brief will detail some crucial events in the run-up to the Afghan election, the behavior of the vote, and why it matters for Afghanistan’s future.

Topic Brief: Myanmar’s Struggles

On August 25, 2009

In International Extemp, Topic Brief

Extempers who are juniors or seniors this year might remember the protests that threatened the ruling government of Myanmar, a country also referred to as Burma by much of the international community, in the fall of 2007. These protests, led by monks and political dissidents of Myanmar’s military junta, were in response to the junta removing fuel subsidies but eventually acquired a more democratic flavor. However, this so-called Saffron Revolution was quelled by the beating, imprisonment, and killing of its participants and thus, Myanmar’s second attempt at acquiring a democratic government since 1962 failed.

At a time when globalization has brought a degree of prosperity to the Southeast Asian region and as countries in that region, such as Indonesia, are playing a more prominent role in global affairs, Myanmar’s junta sticks out like a sore thumb. The junta proclaims that its autocratic governance is justified in order to keep Myanmar’s multi-faceted ethnic groups together under one umbrella. However, the junta has used its position and Myanmar’s plethora of natural resources, to enrich and protect itself. This style of governing has turned what was once Southeast Asia’s richest country (during the British colonial period) to one of the region’s most impoverished.

The urgency of this brief is in Senator Jim Webb’s (D-Virginia) recent visit to Myanmar. During this visit, Webb met with the head of the junta, General Than Shwe, and the country’s most vocal democrat, Aung San Suu Kyi. Webb’s visit has brought back some international attention to events that are unfolding in Myanmar. This, coupled with the State Department’s concern about Myanmar’s military ambitions and alliances, makes the country a hot topic that extempers may encounter in the early part of this year.

This brief will provide some background concerning the historical tensions in Myanmar, the circumstances surrounding Webb’s visit, and discuss strategies for the international community to better engage Myanmar.

Topic Brief: Bill Clinton’s Visit to North Korea

On August 11, 2009

In Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

As has been the case over the last several years, international attention was focused on North Korea last week as former U.S. president Bill Clinton went on a “humanitarian” mission to seek the release of two American journalists detained there. Unlike other attempts at international reconciliation with North Korea, Clinton’s visit was a large success, winning the release of the journalists and possibly opening a new arena of dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea over its human rights record and nuclear program.

Clinton’s visit to North Korea was the first high profile U.S. visit to the country since Clinton sent his Secretary of State Madeline Albright there a decade ago. Under Clinton, tensions between the U.S. and North Korea were high, with some experts predicting a renewed Korean War in the post-Cold War world. However, thanks to the 1994 Agreed Framework between the two countries, those tensions simmered down until North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003.

The visit of the former president granted a degree of prestige to North Korea’s ailing leader Kim Jong-il, whose recent belligerent actions in regards to nuclear weapon and missile tests are said to be designed to shore up his standing in the country with the military and ensure that his third son takes his place. In fact, it has been reported that the North Korean government informed the United States that if President Clinton came to visit them that they would grant the release of the two journalists.

This topic brief will provide some quick background of the dispute over the journalists, explain how the release of the journalists could impact international mediation over the North Korea nuclear issue, and how it could have major political and foreign policy impacts for the Obama administration moving forward.

Topic Brief: Budget Deficit Politics

On August 4, 2009

In Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

During the “off season” after NFL Nationals, the issue of the budget deficit has come to be a major one in American politics. It has the potential to shape the outcome of the midterm elections in 2010 and is playing a role in President Barack Obama’s declining popularity ratings. As extempers get ready for the 2009-2010 season, which starts in less than six weeks with the Wake Forest National Early Bird, they will face questions about an array of economic issues such as unemployment, the effectiveness of the stimulus package, and the level of international trade as well as the controversial issue of healthcare reform. All of these issues have something to do with the budget of the United States government and by proxy the deficit the U.S. government currently finds itself facing.

Americans in the late 1990s got used to seeing fiscal discipline on Capitol Hill between the executive and legislative branches. President Bill Clinton worked with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, a relationship that was often tense through impeachment proceedings and a government shutdown, to craft a budget that was balanced and that ran a surplus totaling $128 billion. In fact, the major issue of the 2000 election between Vice-President Al Gore and then-Texas Governor George W. Bush was over what to do with this budget surplus, with Gore arguing that it needed to be used to shore up entitlement programs such as Social Security in a “lockbox” and Bush arguing that it needed to be given back to the American people in the form of a tax cut. After the first presidential debate between the two men in the fall of 2000, Saturday Night Live had a hilarious mock debate over this issue.

Topic Brief: North Korean Aggression (2009)

On June 2, 2009

In International Extemp, Topic Brief

Early last month, North Korea angered the international community over its launch of a long range missile (Taepodong-2). This launch went against UN Security Council resolutions that ban North Korea from conducting ballistic missile tests, although North Korea’s government saw it as an attempted satellite launch, arguing that it had the right to explore space. This launch was determined to be a failure, with the second and third stages of the rocket failing to separate as planned. Despite this failure, North Korea appears to have gained international attention yet again, by conducting its second nuclear test.

Although scientists and intelligence communities of the United States, Japan, and South Korea are trying to determine if what North Korea detonated was a nuclear weapon or simply a mock nuclear explosion, which could be done with large quantities of explosives, it appears that North Korea has taken a much more aggressive stance with the international community over its nuclear program. It seemed near the end of the Bush administration that North Korea would follow the path of Libya and give up its nuclear weapons program in return for international aid and more diplomatic recognition. However, despite attempts by the Obama administration to extend an olive branch to the North Korean government of Kim Jong-Il, the North Korean government has dug in its heels and has now withdrawn from the 1953 armistice that stopped the fighting in the Korean War.

With North Korea’s aggression being a test of the Obama administration’s resolve on U.S. security and non-proliferation goals, and with it having the potential to ignite a dangerous arms race in East Asia, it is important that extempers read up and understand this issue for the NFL national tournament. It does not matter if you do U.S. or International extemp, because each type will have rounds that will require extempers to analyze security trends and U.S. foreign policy. As such, this brief will explain some of the motivations behind North Korea’s latest test, the response of the North Korea’s neighbors about the test, and what steps the U.S. can take (or lack thereof) to force North Korea’s hand.

Topic Brief: The Politics of National Security

On May 27, 2009

In Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

Last week, extempers were given the treat of seeing President Barack Obama and former Vice-President Dick Cheney give speeches on national security. The Obama administration has continued to advocate that the Bush administration’s policies were negligent in winning international support and made hasty decisions concerning the treatment of detainees in the conflict. Not to take these allegations lying down, Cheney has fired back that Obama is trying to compromise with an enemy that will never compromise and is endangering America’s national security when he is releasing information about interrogation techniques and wanting to close Guantanamo Bay.

On top of this, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been under fire for accusing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of lying before Congress and for arguing that she was unaware that waterboarding techniques where being utilized on detainees. This has created yet another partisan, and some would say distracting, conflict on Capitol Hill that augurs ill for Obama’s promise of getting past the politics of division.

With NFL several weeks away, extempers need to brush up on their understanding of America’s national security debate. Even international extempers could face questions about how America’s image abroad is being impacted by the domestic debate we are seeing play out. Thus, this brief will provide a quick overview of the conflict between Republicans and Democrats on national security, the steps being implemented by President Obama to settle some of these national security issues and what the GOP is doing to attack Democratic opposition, and then provide some political impacts for the current national security debate.

Topic Brief: Sri Lankan Civil War

On May 12, 2009

In International Extemp, Topic Brief

One international event that has brought about unified international outrage is the military offensive of the Sri Lankan government against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Over the last two years, the Sri Lankan government has managed to corner the Tigers, a group that claims to be fighting for the islands Tamil minority and is labeled as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, into a narrow strip of land in the northern part of the country. The concluding offensive, which has the potential to end a military conflict that began in 1983, has put civilians in danger from both sides and there have been numerous calls around the world for the Sri Lankan government to enact a ceasefire with the Tigers so as to allow humanitarian assistance to best be brought to the civilians trapped in the conflict zone.

As the military offensive continues and as the Sri Lankan government appears closer to victory over the LTTE, extempers will be faced with questions concerning the ethics of the military offensive and how the Sri Lankan government can best integrate the Tamil minority into a unitary government structure so as to avoid future hostilities and a re-emergence of the LTTE.

Therefore, this brief will educate extempers about the history of the conflict, the international response to recent events in the conflict zone, and the implications the end of the conflict will have for the Sri Lankan government of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Topic Brief: David Souter Retirement

In Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

Last Friday, Supreme Court justice David Souter announced his retirement, pending the confirmation of a successor. Souter has been a liberal vote on the court, progressively moving in that direction since arriving to the Court in 1990. He was a former New Hampshire Attorney General, New Hampshire Supreme Court justice, and First Circuit Court of Appeals justice before serving on the highest court in the United States.

As most extempers are aware, mostly from their U.S. history classes in high school, the Supreme Court is one of the more powerful branches of government. It derives its power from judicial review, the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional. This was a power that was not expressly given to the Court in the Constitution, but was created in the 1803 Supreme Court decision of Marbury v. Madison.

With Souter’s retirement, President Barack Obama will have his first opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice, enjoying this power earlier in his presidency than his predecessor George W. Bush, who had to wait until his second term to receive his first Supreme Court appointment (and he selected John Roberts).

This brief will explain Souter’s arrival to the Court and his legacy, discuss possible successor options, and the political minefield that this decision creates for President Obama.

Topic Brief: Swine Flu Outbreak

On April 28, 2009

In International Extemp, Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

The last several years have been fortunate for the world’s medical watchers. Fearing an avian flu pandemic across the globe several years ago, these experts have only had to watch the progression of the virus in isolated parts of the Eastern Hemisphere. Also, avian flu never became a human-to-human transmission problem, reducing the urgency required or the threat of avian flu becoming a global problem. However, the recent outbreak of swine flu, if it can be aptly called that since this strain of flu borrows from swine influenza, avian influenza (albeit not its most dangerous components), and human influenza components, which has infected nearly 1500 people globally at the time of this writing, can aroused fears that this is the next global flu pandemic. This is compounded by the fact that swine flu appears to be spreading from person to person, regardless of their contact with infected animals.

This brief will attempt to sort through the mess generated by the latest swine flu outbreak. This brief will provide some details concerning swine flu and its significance, measures currently being taken to stop the spread of the virus, and the implications it has for the globalization movement and President Obama.

Topic Brief: Tea Parties & State Sovereignty Resolutions

On April 21, 2009

In Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

In a time of federal bailouts for corporations, aid to homeowners who are facing trouble paying their mortgages, and budget plans that call for trillion dollar deficits, a segment of the American population has had enough. Clinging to their signs and cries of showing Washington that power still rested with the people, 800 locations around the country were the site of “tea parties” last week, denouncing the policies of President Barack Obama and the Democratically-controlled Congress.

To supplement these protests, 24 states are considering legislation that would reargue the principles of the 10^th amendment, the amendment to the U.S. Constitution that delegates all powers not given to the federal government to the states. This showdown over the concept of federalism has intrigued constitutional experts, as well as some voters, who are seeing Texas Governor Rick Perry arguing that Texas has a right to succession (although Perry later toned down those remarks).

This grassroots action against the D.C. establishment will be analyzed in this week’s topic brief, which might be useful to extempers competing in U.S. extemp at NFL. It may also be useful to extempers preparing for CFL, as the topic areas are slanted 5-3 in favor of U.S. issues. This week’s brief will break down these competing ideas, providing background for the tea parties and their purpose, the fight in state legislatures over sovereignty bills, and an evaluation of how these actions could impact the American political scene.

Topic Brief: G20 Summit Recap (2009)

On April 7, 2009

In International Extemp, Topic Brief

The global financial crisis is truly a global phenomenon. A crisis that centered around a lack of credit brought about by poor judgment by financial institutions has created an international recession and the World Bank estimates that global economic growth will decline by 1.7 percent this year, the first time such a decline has existed since World War II. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has also weighed in on the financial crisis and backed up the World Bank’s claims in reporting that its 30 members will experience a 4.3 percent decline in growth this year.

With such gloomy outlooks on the horizon, and with some financial analysts believing that governments are doing too little to stop the recession from becoming a full blown recession, the gathering of the G20 in London, an organization whose twenty members make up 85 percent of global economic output, was watched closely by international markets last week. The results of the summit ended up mixed, with the winners being the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China, and Angela Merkel of Germany and the potential losers being tighter restrictions on tax havens and most important of all, global trade.

This brief will provide some background on the G20 summit for extempers by analyzing the conflicting views that presented themselves at the summit, what the summit accomplished, and the spin and criticisms that have been leveled against the summit over the last week.

Topic Brief: Space Junk

By Logan Scisco

On March 31, 2009

In Topic Brief, U.S. Extemp

by Logan Scisco

Although space issues are a well researched area by extempers, who focus more on domestic politics and international situations such as those involving North Korea, they do arise in the later rounds of tournaments when question writers have exhausted all possible options for questions. The chance of drawing a question concerning space issues also increases at a national qualifying tournament or at national competitions when “science and technology” is an often used topic area, especially at CFL Nationals and as one of the thirteen topic areas for United States extemp at NFL.

Considering that nationals keeps creeping up and recent events surrounding the issue of space junk, such as the collision last month of a U.S. and Russian satellite over Siberia, and how the International Space Station (ISS) was almost struck by a piece of space junk last week, an issue that is followed by scientists has started to become an issue of public debate. As this debate grows and as “close calls” in space become more reported, extempers have a higher likelihood of getting a question on space junk.

This topic brief will provide some informational facts concerning space junk, the reason it is a concern for space programs, and its implications on future space policies.

Topic Brief: Leftism in Latin America

By Logan Scisco

On March 31, 2009

In International Extemp, Topic Brief

By Sarah Anand[1]

The term leftism itself has been used quite frequently (especially in relation to Latin American politics) to characterize the state of a country’s affairs. However, there is a tendency to ascribe the particular adjective without fully understanding it’s entire meaning. For the past couple of years, specific countries in Latin America have started making shifts to becoming more “leftist.” The world has taken notice of these changes, whether through the antics of Hugo Chavez, the comeback of Daniel Ortega, or the improbability of Evo Morales as president. But, what exactly is leftism, and how does it relate to what is happening in Latin America?

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