Con Case
Psychologist Jordan B. Peterson once stated that “Cooperation is
for…security…Competition is for…status.” My partner and I agree and thus are proud
to negate the resolution; “Resolved: The United States Strategy of Great Power
Competition produces more benefits than harms.”
Contention 1: Costly Nuclear Competition
The end of the cold war resulted in nuclear disarmament cooperation between the
United States and Russia. But Bernstein 20 notes that the U.S. strategy of GPC includes
expanding nuclear, conventional, and cyber military capabilities to achieve a strategic
advantage, prompting Russia to do the same. Bernstein furthers that American
military enlargement will push China to increase the size of its nuclear arsenal to
compete. This competition trades off with nuclear cooperation, with Squassoni 21
finding that GPC reduces the willingness of other great powers to work together on
nuclear security. This increases the likelihood of nuclear conflict in two ways. First is
proliferation. Specifically, Gibbons 21 argues that China and Russia will not participate
in non-proliferation efforts that constrain their abilities compared to the U.S. This
would increase the anxiety of U.S. allies who fear aggression from our adversaries,
with Bernstein concluding that many would choose to build their own nuclear
capabilities to protect themselves. Second is decision time. Mastro 20 reports that in
response to American GPC strategy, China is changing its readiness posture from
launch on nuclear attack to launch on warning, reducing how long decision makers
have to call off a strike. Roser 22 corroborates that more nuclear weapons and launch
on warning postures make nuclear war a realistic outcome thanks to accidents,
hacking, and irrational decision making. The impact is nuclear annihilation. Roser 22
warns that detonating just one weapon would kill millions instantly, while multiple
would cause nuclear winter. Firestorms would produce so much smoke that sunlight
would be blocked, chilling the planet by up to 30 degrees Celsius, resulting in nuclear
famine that would destroy food production and cause billions to starve to death.
Thus, because great power competition produces the potential for the ultimate harm
of great power nuclear war, we Negate.
Contention 2: Destroying Democracy
China and Russia are largely autocratic states. But Duran 21 explains that their rise as
great powers has not prevented them from working with democracies, nor has it led
to exporting authoritarianism to other states. Recent global democracy promotion
campaigns are examples of the United States current GPC strategy. Unfortunately, this
posture undermines democracy in two ways. First is by threat of regime change.
Beebe 22 reports that China and Russia see U.S. democracy promotion efforts as a
threat to their security and stability. Specifically, Denison 21 finds that from
supporting NATO expansion with former soviet states to Taiwanese independence
from China, the U.S.’ push for democratization causes leaders extreme anxiety. They
fear U.S. instigated and backed protests determined to change existing power
structures in their governments. This causes them to crack down on their opposition
domestically and resist democratization near its borders. Second is by allied
compromises. Greico 22 explains that many American allies in the fight against China’s
rise and Russian expansion are not democratic, including nations like Vietnam,
Singapore, and India. Isacson 22 furthers that when the United States ultimate goal is
an advantage over Russia and China, history shows that authoritarian alliances won’t
be turned down. During the cold war the U.S. backed dictators across Latin America to
ensure soviet-backed communism didn’t catch on, even if it meant sacrificing human
rights, eliminating political opponents, and ignoring corruption in the process. The
Impact is Political Progress. While democracy isn’t perfect, Mork 19 concludes that its
by and far the best form of government available. Non-Democratic governance
ensures inequality by silencing the marginalized, lacks accountability mechanisms
which locks in corruption, and makes genocide 3.5 times more likely thanks to
exclusionary ideology. Thus, because great power competition produces the harm of
autocracy at the expense of democracy, we Negate.