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HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of February 2nd-8th, 2010

1.  What is behind China’s more assertive tone on the international stage?
2.  Will his appearance before the Chilcot inquiry be the final nail in Gordon Brown’s political coffin?
3.  Does Africa need land reform?
4.  Will Britain and Ireland eventually have to establish joint authority over Northern Ireland?
5.  Why does Qaddafi want to serve another term as AU chairman?
6.  What are the chances of a Doha Round deal in 2010?
7.  Will the rejection of the presidential election result by opposition parties in Sri Lanka endanger the nation’s prospects for peace?
8.  Are Chinese sanctions against American arms companies who sell to Taiwan a violation of WTO rules?
9.  How can the reconstruction of Haiti avoid the failures of previous efforts?
10.  Can Russia bring stability to Dagestan?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of January 26th-February 1st, 2009

1.  With its current government in shambles, who should govern Haiti be in the aftermath of its recent earthquake?
2.  Will Netanyahu’s statement that some Jewish settlements in the West Bank will always be part of Israel derail the latest attempts to have Middle East peace talks?
3.  Was the decision by the Independent Election Commission to delay Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections appropriate?
4.  What are the chances that North Korea would be willing to renew military hostilities with South Korea?
5.  After Susumu Inamine won the Nago mayoral election, will the Japanese government move a U.S. marine air station off of the island?
6.  Will Pakistan’s decision not to launch new offensives against the Taliban undermine military actions taking place in Afghanistan?
7.  Is Yemen a bigger problem for Saudi Arabia or the U.S.?
8.  Why are ties between the FDP and CSU/CDU strained in the German government?
9.  Is the warming of ties with France good for Rwanda?
10.  Will Sudan be split into two countries after a 2011 referendum?

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of January 26th-February 1st, 2010

1.  How can Barack Obama improve his poll numbers among independent voters?
2.  Would a failure to confirm Bernanke severely threaten the independence of the Federal Reserve?
3.  How should Republicans use their enhanced position in the U.S. Senate?
4.  Will Obama’s endorsement of an independent deficit commission give him credibility on fiscal issues?
5.  Is Obama bad for the economy?
6.  Will 2010 have more bank failures than 2009?
7.  Would the use of spy drones in civilian areas for security purposes be constitutional?
8.  Does the recent Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance spending help Republicans more than Democrats?
9.  Will Obama’s decision to reconstitute the team that helped him win the White House significantly help Democrats in the 2010 midterms?
10.  Is America losing Japan to China?

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of January 19th-25th, 2010

1.  How will Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts impact the healthcare debate on Capitol Hill?
2.  Will David Paterson’s spending plan pass in New York?
3.  Why has America grown mute on the gun control debate?
4.  Will the Supreme Court’s decision to not grant an injunction to close Chicago-area locks lead to the collapse of the Great Lake fishing industry?
5.  How much is Obama to blame for Democratic setbacks in Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey?
6.  Has America taken on too much responsibility in Haiti?
7.  How can the United States ensure that Ukraine does not fall back into Russian hands?
8.  What sank Martha Coakley in Massachusetts?
9.  How urgent is it that Congress pass an amendment to bar the EPA from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions?
10.  Is the independent Pentagon review of the Fort Hood massacre too politically correct?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of January 19th-25th, 2010

1. Does Yanukovych’s win in the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election signify that Ukraine is moving back into Russia’s orbit?
2. Should the UN Security Council send more troops and police to Haiti?
3. How will Sebastian Pinera change Chile?
4. Will a federal court ruling that gives Goodluck Jonathan presidential powers in Nigeria successfully solve the political gridlock that is gripping the nation?
5. Are negotiations the only way that the Palestinians will get their own state?
6. Do pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea show that the fight against international piracy still has a long way to go?
7. Will the probe involving Ichiro Ozawa hurt the DPJ heading into this year’s mid-year election in Japan?
8. Are French complaints about America’s actions in Haiti justified?
9. Is UN inaction on sanctions against Iran only emboldening Tehran?
10. Will a new Afghan initiative to give jobs to the Taliban succeed in squelching the insurgency?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of January 12th-18th, 2010

1.  Why was Gordon Brown able to survive his latest brush with political death?
2.  Should Umaru Yar’Adua step down?
3.  Do tense relations with Turkey imperil Israel’s security?
4.  Will China’s recent missile defense tests force other nations to increase spending on such projects?
5.  Is Catherine Ashton unqualified to be the EU’s foreign affairs chief?
6.  Will Peter Robinson’s temporary departure from duties in Northern Ireland become a permanent exile?
7.  How can Rajapaksa win the Tamil vote in Sri Lanka’s presidential election?
8.  Will Hugo Chavez’s decision to devalue Venezuela’s currency enable opposition forces to take control of the national legislature?
9.  Is North Korea’s peace offer disingenuous?
10.  Will a new Zimbabwean constitution provide for effective limits on executive power?

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of January 12th-18th, 2010

1.  Is Obama’s focus on creating green jobs hurting the ability of the U.S. economy to cure rising unemployment?
2.  Has Dodd’s decision not to run for re-election prevented Connecticut’s Senate seat from falling into Republican hands?
3.  Should Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab have been classified as an enemy combatant?
4.  Why has the gay marriage movement failed to win victories at the ballot box?
5.  Will the recent cold snap in the United States doom efforts at installing a cap and trade system?
6.  If Harry Reid loses re-election in 2010 who should become Senate Majority Leader?
7.  Will 3D TV be a bust?
8.  Should Brit Hume be fired for his comments about Tiger Woods?
9.  Does the forgiving of Harry Reid by the Democratic Party show that there is a political double standard about race?
10.  Will GM be able to turn a profit in 2010?

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of January 5th-11th, 2009

1.  Should Napolitano step down?
2.  Will the recession benefit the GOP in 2010 but not in 2012?
3.  Should more of NASA’s work be outsourced to the private sector?
4.  Which would be more beneficial for the US economy:  electric powered vehicles or biofuel powered vehicles?
5.  Does the U.S. need to look into some form of profiling to protect the nation’s airlines?
6.  Is the Cornhusker Compromise unconstitutional?
7.  Will the U.S. be forced to bail out California in 2010?
8.  What was Obama’s most significant accomplishment in 2009?
9.  Can cap and trade pass the Senate?
10.  Why are economists projecting weak U.S. economic growth next year?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of January 5th-11th, 2010

1.  Are there significant parallels between China’s economic growth and Japan’s of the 1980s?
2.  Why is Pakistan only concerned about Taliban elements that threaten its domestic security?
3.  Will Yulia Tymoshenko win the Ukranian presidential election?
4.  Should the international community be doing more to support the protests in Iran?
5.  Will BRIC turn into BIRIC?
6.  How can Europe make itself less dependent on Russian gas?
7.  Will a 2011 referendum on southern independence in Sudan lead to the breakup of the nation?
8.  Is Berlusconi the cause of rising tensions in Italian politics?
9.  Will the near arrest of Tzipi Livni in December significantly impair the Israeli-British relationship?
10.  Do the Liberals have any chance of winning the Australian elections in 2010?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of December 15th-21st, 2009

HOTtopics1.  Is there a something rotten with the state of Venezuela’s banks?
2.  Has Russia effectively thwarted Georgia and Ukraine’s steps toward NATO membership?
3.  What should be Yukiya Amano’s first priority as the new head of the IAEA?
4.  Why is Greece on the brink of bankruptcy?
5.  Will EU expansion plans into the Balkans delay Turkey’s admission into the organization?
6.  Can Tony Abbott resuscitate Australia’s Liberal Party?
7.  Is domestic criticism of Stephen Harper’s stance towards China misplaced?
8.  Will the Tamils be the kingmaker in the Sri Lankan presidential election?
9.  Do Chinese efforts to prosecute Liu Xiaobo show that a crackdown on human rights defenders has become standard operating procedure for the Chinese government?
10.  Which is worse:  the bombing of Iran or Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon?

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of December 15th-21st, 2009

HOTtopics1.  Are efforts to construct a “green” economy too optimistic?
2.  Is Obama’s offer of assistance to small business coming too late?
3.  Should the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions be audited by Congress?
4.  Will General Motors ever find its way back into the black?
5.  Should TARP funds be used for job creation?
6.  Did the Supreme Court make the right ruling in Smith v. Alvarez?
7.  Should the U.S. government play a stronger role in guiding the nation’s food and nutritional choices?
8.  What does the Atlanta mayoral race say about race relations in America?
9.  Is Obama’s foreign policy alienating allies and failing to win friends?
10.  Will the Blagojevich trial help the GOP capture Obama’s old Senate seat?

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of December 7th-11th, 2009

HOTtopics1.  With a reported deal on healthcare in the Senate does that mean that healthcare reform is finalized?
2.  Will Congress get more serious about cutting the deficit next year?
3.  Is Obama’s AIDS policy insufficient?
4.  Should the University of North Dakota drop its Fighting Sioux nickname?
5.  Were the conclusions reached by the Congressional Oversight Panel concerning the TARP Program accurate?
6.  Will the one drug method of lethal injection quell criticisms of the practice?
7.  Does the media need to leave Tiger Woods alone?
8.  Will Martha Coakley be the next senator of Massachusetts?
9.  Have Democrats failed to clean up Capitol Hill?
10.  Should the U.S. significantly increase the amount of its drone attacks in Pakistan?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of December 7th-11th, 2009

HOTtopics1.  Will Japan’s stimulus package help it stave off deflation?
2.  Can Afghanistan build an effective army within the next two years?
3.  Will Iran arrest Mousavi?
4.  Can a Palestinian boycott on Israeli products from the West Bank cause Israel to reconsider its settlement policy?
5.  Will Romania’s presidential election result stand?
6.  Should Turkey’s Constitutional Court ban the DTP?
7.  Does the the reelection of Evo Morales breathe new life into Latin America’s socialist movement?
8.  Is the conviction of Amanda Knox a stain on Italian justice?
9.  Will Michel Barnier wreck havoc on London financial services?
10.  Is the Honduran Congress making a mistake in not allowing Zelaya to finish the law several weeks of his term?

HotTopics: International Extemp Questions for the Week of December 1st-7th, 2009

HOTtopics1.  Is Switzerland’s vote to ban minaret construction a setback for efforts to better integrate Muslims into European society?
2.  How will Australia’s defeat of a carbon trading system impact Copenhagen?
3.  Will North Korea’s freeze on cash transactions accelerate the country’s economic collapse?
4.  Would a positive ruling by the ICJ in Kosovo’s favor lead to it being recognized by more countries in the international community?
5.  Will the troubles at Dubai World force the UAE’s economy to become more transparent?
6.  Has the recent Honduran election finally resolved the country’s political crisis?
7.  Will South Africa be able to afford Zuma’s new plan to provide treatment to all children with HIV?
8.  Why did Mujica distance himself from Chavez in the Uruguay runoff?
9.  Would it be in Germany’s best interests to stop the prosecution of John Demjanjuk?
10.  Will extra US troops make a difference in Afghanistan?

HotTopics: United States Extemp Questions for the Week of December 1st-7th, 2009

HOTtopics1.  Is the Salahi issue overblown?
2.  Why are Obama’s approval ratings falling among white voters?
3.  Is Obama’s foreign policy projecting weakness?
4.  Are the cost estimates for healthcare reform legislation too optimistic?
5.  Would an Ensign resignation held or hinder GOP efforts to defeat Harry Reid in 2010?
6.  Will this week’s jobs summit produce any significant results?
7.  Is the White House ignoring Climategate at their peril?
8.  Will David Paterson’s unilateral action on the New York state budget help his re-election prospects?
9.  Is a second stimulus package needed?
10.  Does the GOP need the “birther” movement to go away?

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