As was done for the Catholic Forensic League (CFL) national tournament, Extemp Central provides you with this topic area analysis for the International Extemp portion of next week’s NFL national tournament in Kansas City, Missouri.
In the first of our four-part series, we explore three of the thirteen topic areas at the 2010 NFL National Tournament in International Extemp.
Topic Area #7: India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia
Topic Area #8: The International Community: The Transition from 2000 to 2010
Topic Area #9: International Organizations & Global Challenges
Keep reading to explore these areas in further depth.
Topic Area #7: India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia
Years ago, this would have been a volatile topic area with lots of nuclear war impacts. However, despite the Mumbai attacks during last season, the relationship between India and Pakistan has been steadily improving. The Indian government has tried to build stronger relationships with Pakistan, believing that they are crucial for regional stability. Having nuclear weapons pointed at each other is also a good incentive for calmer relations despite Indian demands that Pakistan do more to keep extremists out of Indian territory. I don’t have the room here to detail the entire India-Pakistan conflict, so if you are unaware of the history between both nations please examine it in careful detail. No speech about the India-Pakistan relationship can be analyzed without understanding the volatile history between both states. Another major topic in this round will be extremism in Southeast Asia. The region is beset by rebellions of some sort as India fights its Naxalites, Pakistan fights Taliban rebels, Nepal confronts its Maoist insurgents (although that’s more of a political problem now), the Philippines and Indonesia fight Islamic insurgents, Thailand does the same although that problem has been subsumed because of political unrest at home, and Myanmar fights rebel groups that oppose the governing junta’s policies. All of these conflicts impact elections and the way that governments behave and they are important parts of each nation’s national security strategy. Remember when analyzing the tactics these nations take that not all of them behave like the United States. Different cultural norms predominate these areas and although Western European nations might put human rights at the top of their agenda, these nations are willing to use brutal tactics to settle old scores. For example, the Sri Lankan civil war only ended when the government used brutal tactics to crush the Tamil Tigers. Prior governments were less willing to do this and war dragged on too long. While these tactics are appalling in terms of the lives sacrificed to achieve peace, the Sri Lankan presidential election demonstrates that parties who crush insurgents will be rewarded at the ballot box. Extempers also need to be aware that Australia is the odd man out this year. There is no topic area where Australia goes except here. There are anxieties within Australia about India and China’s growing economic power and the recent mine tax imposed by the government of Kevin Rudd has some fearing that it will lead to international control of Australia’s mining industry. Also, in a blow to global climate change efforts Australia has said that it will not pass a cap and trade bill until 2013. Finally, political anxieties about authoritarian governments, rigged elections, and egregious political behavior dominate the headlines for nations like Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Nepal. Just like Africa, having a few tidbits about corruption in these nations can help you stand out in a round. I will also admit that pronouncing the names of political leaders in this round will be more difficult than others and the way to learn them is to use the Voice of America pronunciation guide online. If you google “Voice of America + pronunciation guide” you will find it.
Issues you may face in this round include:
- How India and Pakistan can resolve their conflict over Kashmir
- If India’s economic growth is sustainable and how it can alleviate poverty
- If Pakistan is doing enough against Islamic militants within its borders
- Thailand’s political upheaval
- If the Philippines new government can successfully pass economic reforms the nation needs
- If Sri Lanka and Malaysia are becoming authoritarian states
- If it is wise for political opposition movements to boycott Myanmar’s election this year
Topic Area #8: The International Community: The Transition from 2000 to 2010
This is the second topic area that is mimicked in United States extemp. Again, for those competing in this year’s NFL tournament you were less than ten years old when the 21st century began so it’s a little unfair for you to remember information from ten years ago. This round has never been done as a topic area before so I’m not sure what you can expect here. My best guess is that you will have some comparison questions that will force you to evaluate a policy that a nation has implemented over the last decade or how an international organization’s power dynamics and mission have changed during that period of time. As I said in the United States extemp topic brief, you may not have a good knowledge of the history of every nation in the world but most journal articles on a subject or good articles and special reports in The Economist will usually break down the history of a national policy or other subject matters. These can help you in this round. When planning for this round, try to think of things that have altered the global landscape over the last decade. After you think about those things for a few minutes several thoughts should come to mind including the inauguration of the war on terrorism, the growth of the Internet, the rise of free trade agreements across the globe, the proliferation of nuclear technology, high oil prices, and the spread of democratic and other destructive ideologies that threaten the global balance of power. This round may ask you to explain how these developments have shaped the international community over the last decade so that it is something to think about for this round as well.
Issues you may face in this round include:
- The impact of the Internet on the international community
- The impact of nuclear proliferation on global security networks
- How Islamic fundamentalist ideology has shaped the Western world
- If globalization has benefitted or negatively impacted national economies
- If democratic reforms have made the world safer or more unstable throughout the globe
- The impact of Bolivarian socialism on Latin American nations
- The emergence of the G-20 as a replacement for the G-8
Topic Area #9: International Organizations & Global Challenges
Unlike the United States extemp topic areas, which I think make it obvious what the final round topic will be, things are not as clear when looking at the International extemp topic areas. However, of all of the topic areas I think this one will likely be the finals topic. The NFL final round usually asks about global trends and issues and this topic area best fits that description. For the international organizations part of this question, extempers need to understand the dynamics within some of the major international organizations like the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Going to the websites of each of these organizations and printing off their missions, structures, and leadership would be excellent resources for your files. Keep in mind that this year the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shifted some of its voting rights to give nations like China a bigger say. Also, the G-20 now has supplanted many of the tasks originally assigned to the G-8 and signifies a shift in the globe’s balance of power. The ICC has met in Uganda to discuss whether the crime of aggression should be added to the Court’s mandate and that has provoked some outrage from some countries that are not members of the Court, like the United States, because they see the crime of aggression as a tool for taking politically motivated crimes to the Court. For the global challenges portion of the question, keep in mind several social and economic issues plaguing the globe. Bringing fair wages to workers in the developing world is an ongoing struggle as well as helping those in poverty work their way out. Global health care and education efforts are also ongoing and serve as some of the greatest weapons against the spread of radical political, social, and economic ideologies that might threaten global security. If this is indeed the final round topic you can expect to see broad questions like this. The best way to approach those broad questions (in 2003 a notable one was “Will there be peace in the Middle East?”) is to establish a clear thesis statement for your answer and to set up a clear framework for answering the question. In 2003, when confronted with the Middle East question, Josh Bone made the decision to make the Middle East peace element of the question primarily about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Remember, you are the speaker and have the right to parametricize down to what you think is the right direction for the topic. As long as you stay on message and are clear as a whistle your speech will go fine. Also, if you are in the final round do your best to relax. You will be nervous going into the speech because all of the cameras and all of the eyes of the extemp world will be watching your every move but you earned the right to get there and you may never get that opportunity again. Take it from someone who knows, the seven minutes on stage last for a lifetime and if you have fun and show some personality you can walk out of Kansas City as a final round national champion even if you don’t win the overall national championship.
Issues you may face in this round include:
- The UN’s actions in the Middle East peace process and if they are effective
- The UN’s mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo against the FDLR
- The IAEA’s actions to counter global nuclear proliferation and if they have been effective
- The G-20’s rise as a powerful international institution
- What NATO’s role should be in the 21st century
- If the ICC should make aggression a crime under its jurisdiction
- Actions the international community can take to help developing nations become more prosperous
- How spending cuts in Britain will impact David Cameron’s political career
- The Greek bailout and its impact on the EU and other politicians in Europe
- Actions against Islamic practices like the construction of minarets in Switzerland and the burqa
- The future of the euro
- The future of the European Union
- If the EU should admit Turkey and/or Russia as members
- How Nicolas Sarkozy can deal with low approval ratings and if his pension reform package will pass