This Wednesday, September 13th at 7 PM , we launch our fall season with a new approach. First, a keynote conversation. Then, a debate, staged in a new format.
We’ll be leading off the evening with a conversation centered around the greatest current strategic challenges facing the U.S. around the world, featuring one of the most influential thinkers in that arena, General David Petraeus. One of America’s most prominent military leaders, he’ll be speaking with Max Boot, a good friend of Open to Debate, and a celebrated military historian in his own right.
We’ll zoom in on arguably the most pressing strategic relationship today – China, and its amazing rise to great power status. This is a subject we’ve been exploring at intervals since our very first season, back in 2006 – for the simple reason that China’s evolution as a global force has been so fast, so persistent, and so unrelentingly unpredictable. This time around, we have a lot of new things going on: a president named Trump in the White House, a Chinese ally – North Korea – saber-rattling with nukes, and a supposedly Communist Chinese leadership exploiting its economic power to advance its strategic position in the world. Given all that, we’ll be looking to debate the appropriate U.S. response. What is wise? What is even possible anymore?
For this one, we are once again employing the alternate debate format we experimented with last season, the one we call “Unresolved.” In place of a single proposition argued between two teams, we will work through four resolutions, argued by four debaters who are each flying solo. We’ve learned that this approach works well on topics that require more nuance. China, right now, certainly qualifies.
Here’s the motion: Unresolved: Face-Off With China.
It’s going to be a great kickoff to our season. I hope you’ll join us.
