Debate Briefs

Currently, China leads the world in extracting and processing many crucial natural resources, especially rare earth elements (REEs). By controlling processing, China gains significant leverage over the global market, as other economies rely on processed resources from China in their own markets. As such, any changes in China’s policies or extraction/processing could disrupt global supply chains and influence the global prices of resources.

The most obvious case position for the negative to take on the nuclear weapons topic is that nuclear weapons deter great power conflict from breaking out, ushering in an “era of peace.” However, while this is the most obvious argument to jump to, there are also several other easy-to-make points that you could either include in your own case or at least know how to respond to, in case you encounter someone else running them. 

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has continued his threats to Greenland, articulating his fears of China and/or Russia occupying the territory instead. Trump has said that if he fails to take Greenland “the easy way, then he will take it “the hard way.” “We are going to do something in Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor,” Trump said.

China is no stranger to the extraction of natural resources, having found itself to be a global powerhouse in this realm. Not only dominating the supply of critical rare earth minerals, developing green tech and establishing new alliances, China has appeared to position itself well while also opening a floodgate of arguments to make on the January Public Forum topic, “The People’s Republic of China should substantially reduce its international extraction of natural resources.”

One of the most central negative arguments suggests that the possession of nuclear weapons acts as a deterrent against full-scale nuclear war. The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) postulates that if a nation launches a nuclear assault on another nation in possession of nuclear weapons, the attacked nation possesses second-strike capabilities that allow it to annihilate the attacking nation.

For the January/February resolution (Resolved: The possession of nuclear weapons is immoral), I have a feeling that the must-win argument is going to be nuclear deterrence. Nuclear deterrence is a fairly simple concept to grasp. Large, nuclear-possessing states are disincentivized from engaging in conflict with one another because they want to avoid the risk of nuclear war at all costs. The basic thesis of nuclear deterrence is...

Since the rewilding topic was first announced, I had a feeling that it was going to be an uphill battle for the affirmative to win in most traditional rounds. This was mainly because I worried that the aff would have to prove that rewilding is the only feasible solution to climate change, or that it’s a necessary component of any sustainable solution. If the aff is unable to prove that, then the neg has a pretty easy path to the ballot...

Note: This article is a special report, and can also be found on our special reports page. 

Kritiks in policy debate can be very diverse. Most debaters today are familiar with kritiks about identity, whether that be afro-pessimism, techo-orientalism, or settler colonialism. While one of the earliest kritiks was the border kritik, over time, kritiks have evolved to include many different other things. 

The US war on encryption, also known as the “Crypto Wars,” to the controversy surrounding government attempts to weaken encryption and opposition from privacy advocates, computer scientists and mathematicians. In the early 1990s, the US restricted exports of encrypted technologies and attempted to gain backdoor access to encrypted communication. 

Rewilding at its core is an environmental conservation effort that restores land to its natural state, often in accordance with protection of ecosystems and the reintroduction of animal species. In recent years, it's gained traction by policymakers, scientists and conservation groups when looking towards potential solutions for the global threat of climate change.

T-Minerals, being one of the two topicality violations in the National Debate Coaches Association’s (NDCA) Novice Packet, makes it clear that extracting natural resources remains one of the United States Federal Government’s concerns in foreign and domestic policy.  A slogan used by Republican candidates since 2008, “Drill, Baby, Drill,” has returned as a rallying cry for American energy production, with political, economic and environmental consequences. 

Government policies which mandate technology companies to provide lawful access to encrypted communications, often known not-so-affectionately in the cybersecurity world as “backdoors,” are viewed fairly negatively by most experts. Touted by some as a solution to child abuse and terrorism, proposals to allow government access to private communications in the U.S. have been greatly opposed. 

Most likely, you will hit people who ask, “Restoring the natural processes of an ecosystem to what?” Is there a certain time period we are modeling rewilding after? A relative time period, or an ideal level of ecological functioning? Read analysis on how to define an ideal level of ecological functioning.

Note: This article is a special report, and can also be found on our special reports page. 

The new PF November/December topic is a matter of balancing message security and encryption with the growing need for national security. Currently, many of the major messaging and communication apps like Signal, Wire, and Telegram all have powerful end-to-end encryption.  

In the status quo, in order for any country to apply to be a part of the European Union, they must apply under Article 49 of the Treaty of the European Union. The United Kingdom is no exception despite its former member status. Even if fiat of the resolution guarantees UK membership in the European Union, it does not guarantee UK access to the rebates and opt-outs they’ve had before; in fact, as a new member state, the UK would have no such privileges, needing the approval of all 27 current member states in order to regain them.

There are few debate resolutions throughout the year that see as much confused Google searches, agitated gripes, and makeshift blockfiles thrown together the night before a tournament as the season opener. This year, to kick off the 2025-2026 season, the chosen LD topic was “Resolved: In the United States criminal justice system, plea bargaining is just.”

With many resolutional affirmatives either aiming to deter or cooperate with Russia, Russian military actions almost always provide (non)uniqueness or demonstrate harms of United States federal inaction. The Kingdom of Denmark, an Arctic state as recognized by the Arctic Council, has reported on October 3rd, 2025, that Russian warships and drones have entered Danish air and naval space. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has remarked that a European “hybrid war” has started, warning that the current situation is as dangerous as World War II. The Danish Defence Intelligence Service has defined “hybrid war” as political/economic/informational/military pressure to undermine other states without being deemed armed conflict.