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Index
Index .............................................................................................................................................................. 1
T- Private Sector ............................................................................................................................................ 3
T - Substantial ............................................................................................................................................... 4
T – Economic Engagement = Economic Incentives ....................................................................................... 5
T – Increase = Pre-existence ......................................................................................................................... 6
Resolved = Express by formal vote ............................................................................................................... 7
Resolved = Implies specific course of action ................................................................................................. 8
Resolved = Reach a firm decision ................................................................................................................. 9
Resolved = Reach a firm decision ............................................................................................................... 10
Resolved = Reach a firm decision ............................................................................................................... 11
The = All Parts ............................................................................................................................................. 12
The = Particularizes noun ............................................................................................................................ 13
The = Particularizes noun ............................................................................................................................ 14
The = Particularizes noun ............................................................................................................................ 15
USFG = National government...................................................................................................................... 16
USFG = National Government ..................................................................................................................... 17
USFG = National Government ..................................................................................................................... 18
Substantially = Large Amount ...................................................................................................................... 19
Substantially = Large Amount ...................................................................................................................... 20
Substantially = Must be defined contextually ............................................................................................... 21
Substantially = Without Material Qualifications/Essentially .......................................................................... 22
Increase = To make larger ........................................................................................................................... 23
Increase = To Make Larger.......................................................................................................................... 24
Increase = Net increase ............................................................................................................................... 25
Increase = Pre-existing ................................................................................................................................ 26
Increase = Pre-existing ................................................................................................................................ 27
Increase = Not Pre-existing ......................................................................................................................... 28
Economic Engagement = Must change behavior of target state.................................................................. 29
Economic Engagement = Must change behavior of target state .................................................................. 30
Economic Engagement = Distinct from diplomatic/military engagement...................................................... 31
Economic Engagement = Economic incentives ........................................................................................... 32
Economic Engagement = Economic Incentives ........................................................................................... 33
Economic Engagement = Positive Incentives .............................................................................................. 34
Economic Engagement = Positive Incentives .............................................................................................. 35
Engagement = Binding commitment ............................................................................................................ 36
Economic Engagement – Laundry List ........................................................................................................ 37
Economic Engagement – Laundry List ........................................................................................................ 38
Economic Engagement – Laundry List ........................................................................................................ 39
Economic Engagement – Laundry List ........................................................................................................ 40
Economic Engagement = Trade .................................................................................................................. 41
Economic Engagement = Private Sector ..................................................................................................... 42
Economic Engagement = Aid ...................................................................................................................... 43
Economic Engagement = Lifting Embargo................................................................................................... 44
Economic Engagement = Lifting Embargo................................................................................................... 45
Economic Engagement = Lifting Embargo................................................................................................... 46
Toward = In relation to ................................................................................................................................. 47
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Toward = In the direction of ......................................................................................................................... 48
Or = Only one country ................................................................................................................................. 49
ASPEC ........................................................................................................................................................ 50
OSPEC ........................................................................................................................................................ 51
Extra T Bad.................................................................................................................................................. 52
Extra T: Reasons to Reject .......................................................................................................................... 53
FX Topicality Bad ........................................................................................................................................ 54
T is a Voter .................................................................................................................................................. 55
Competing Interpretations Good .................................................................................................................. 56
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T- Private Sector
1. Interpretation: The affirmative team must use the United States Federal Government to
increase economic engagement with Cuba, Venezuela or Mexico.
a. “Its,” as written in the resolution, implies possession.
Carol-June Cassidy, (Managing Editor), CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH, 2nd Ed., 2008, 464.
Its: Belonging to or connected with the thing or animal mentioned; the possessive form of it. 19
b. The private sector is distinct from the United States Federal Government
Eban Goodstein (Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark College) “Economics and the Environment” 2008
Photovoltaic power is so attractive that, in the long run, it is likely to be developed by private industry
regardless of U.S. government policy. The question really is when and by whom?
2. Violation: The affirmative team uses [private sector actor] to enact the plan.
3. Reasons to prefer:
a. Ground: The negative interpretation allows for an equal distribution of ground
which is key to fairness because it guarantees the negative team can challenge
the actor advocated by the resolution. Allowing the affirmative to choose an
actor outside of the resolution allows them to avoid key disadvantage and
counterplan ground.
b. Limits: Our interpretation establishes clear and reasonable limits; the affirmative
gets the USFG while the negative can use any other feasible actor which
ensures debates remain germane to the topic at hand.
c. Predictability: Allowing the affirmative to choose actors outside of the resolution
is unpredictable and explodes the negative research burden. The resolution
clearly calls for action from the USFG. Gutting predictability necessarily guts
real-world education because it omits the knowledge of possible actions that
can be taken by the federal government.
4. Evaluate topicality using competing interpretations because reasonability is arbitrary and
encourages judge intervention.
5. T is a voter for fairness, education, and competitive equity.
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T - Substantial
1. Interpretation: Substantial refers to considerable amount, quantity, or
size
The Random House College Dictionary 73, p. 844
Substantial - is of ample or considerable amount, quantity, or size.
2. Violation: The affirmative only increases monetary aid to [Country]
3. Prefer our interpretation:
a. Predictability: Our interpretation is an easily accessible and thus predictable one
which grants both sides equal footing.
b. Ground: Our interpretation provides for the best ground division because it
clearly describes how the affirmative must effect economic engagement; leaving the
rest for the negative.
c. Limits: permitting affirmative strategies that don’t have a large or profound effect
on the subject severely underlimits the affirmative, permitting them to win on
marginal amounts of offense garnered from obscure plans that don’t link to negative
strategies.
4. Evaluate topicality under competing interpretations because reasonability is
arbitrary and encourages judge intervention.
5. Topicality is a voter for competitive equity
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T – Economic Engagement = Economic Incentives
1. Interpretation: “Economic engagement” refers to tangible economic incentives
such as export credits, loans, removal of high tariffs and embargoes.
a. Economic engagement includes economic incentives
Richard Haass, (President, Council on Foreign Relations & Former Dir., Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution), HONEY AND
VINEGAR: INCENTIVES, SANCTIONS, AND FOREIGN POLICY, 2000, 5.
Architects of engagement strategies have a wide variety of incentives from which to choose. Economic
engagement might
offer tangible incentives such as export credits, investment insurance or promotion, access to
technology, loans, and economic aid. Other equally useful economic incentives involve the 28
removal of penalties, whether they be trade embargoes, investment bans, or high tariffs that have
impeded economic relations between the United States and the target country. In addition, facilitated entry into the
global economic arena and the institutions that govern it rank among the most potent incentives in today’s global
market.
2. Violation: The affirmative [insert whatever they do that’s not one of the economic incentives
listed above]
3. Prefer our interpretation:
a. Limits: Our interpretation provides the best limits for what constitutes a topical affirmative.
We give you a laundry list of different types of economic incentives, proving that there is much
affirmative ground on this issue.
b. Context: Richard Haass is the President of the Council of Foreign Relations at the Brookings
Institution, a well-respected think-tank. As an expert in his field, he probably knows what
counts as “economic engagement.”
c. Depth v. Breadth: Our interpretation allows for us all to learn a lot about several specific
types of economic engagement rather than about economic engagement in a broader sense.
4. Evaluate topicality under competing interpretations because reasonability is arbitrary and
encourages judge intervention.
5. Topicality is a voter for fairness and education
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T – Increase = Pre-existence
1. Interpretation: The affirmative team must increase an existing form of economic
engagement.
a. Increase requires pre-existence
Buckley et al 6
attorney (Jeremiah, Amicus Curiae Brief, Safeco Ins. Co. of America et al v. Charles Burr et al,
http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/briefs/06-84/06-84.mer.ami.mica.pdf)
First, the court said that the ordinary meaning of the word “increase” is “to make something greater,” which it believed
should not “be limited to cases in which a company raises the rate that an individual has previously been charged.” 435
Because “increase”
means “to make something greater,” there must necessarily have been an existing
premium, to which Edo’s actual premium may be compared, to determine whether an “increase”
occurred. Congress could have provided that “ad-verse action” in the insurance context means charging an amount
F.3d at 1091. Yet the definition offered by the Ninth Circuit compels the opposite conclusion.
greater than the optimal premium, but instead chose to define adverse action in terms of an “increase.” That def-initional
choice must be respected, not ignored. See Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379, 392-93 n.10 (1979) (“[a] defin-ition which
declares what a term ‘means’ . . . excludes any meaning that is not stated”). Next, the Ninth Circuit reasoned that because
the Insurance Prong includes the words “existing or applied for,” Congress intended that an “increase in any charge” for
insurance must “apply to all insurance transactions – from an initial policy of insurance to a renewal of a long-held policy.”
435 F.3d at 1091. This interpretation reads the words “exist-ing or applied for” in isolation. Other types of adverse action
described in the Insurance Prong apply only to situations where a consumer had an existing policy of insurance, such as a
“cancellation,” “reduction,” or “change” in insurance. Each of these forms of adverse action presupposes an alreadyexisting policy, and under
usual canons of statutory construction the term “increase” also
should be construed to apply to increases of an already-existing policy. See Hibbs v. Winn, 542
U.S. 88, 101 (2004) (“a phrase gathers meaning from the words around it”) (citation omitted).
2. Violation: The affirmative team creates a new form of economic engagement with
[Country]
3. Prefer our interpretation:
a. Limits: Our interpretation provides the best limits for deciding what types of
economic engagement to research. Ensures clash and in-depth education by limiting
our research to only types of economic engagement that exist in the status quo
b. Brightline: Our interpretation clearly tells you what is and what is not topical.
c. Education: Our interpretation provides for the best education by encouraging
research on current economic engagements with [Country]. Not only do we learn about
what is happening in the status quo but we also must then use critical thinking skills to
determine the best course of action. If affirmatives are allowed to create a new form of
economic engagement they can choose an unpredictable form which would destroy
clash and hinder debate by turning into a forum where all we do is preach utopian
worlds.
4. Evaluate topicality using competing interpretations because reasonability is arbitrary
and encourages judge intervention.
5. T is a voter for education and competitive equity
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Resolved = Express by formal vote
Resolved means to decide by formal vote
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary 98
(dictionary.com)
Resolved: 5. To express, as an opinion or determination, by resolution and vote; to declare or decide by a formal
vote; -- followed by a clause; as, the house resolved (or, it was resolved by the house) that no money should be apropriated (or, to appropriate no
money).
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Resolved = Implies specific course of action
‘Resolved’ implies a specific course of action
American Heritage 0 (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition,
INTRANSITIVE VERB:1. To reach a decision or make
reduced to constituents. 3. Music To undergo resolution.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/87/R0178700.html)
a determination: resolve on a course of action. 2. To
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become separated or
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Resolved = Reach a firm decision
Resolved means to reach a firm decision
Merriam Webster Online 8
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=resolved
resolve[1,verb] Main Entry: 1re·solve Pronunciation: \ri-ˈzälv, -ˈzȯlv also -ˈzäv or -ˈzȯv\ Function: verb Inflected Form(s): re·solved; re·solv·ing Etymology: Middle
English, from Latin resolvere to unloose, dissolve, from re- + solvere to loosen, release — more at solve Date: 14th century transitive verb 1obsolete : dissolve,
melt 2 a: break up, separate <the prism resolved the light into a play of color>; also : to change by disintegration b: to reduce by analysis <resolve the problem
into simple elements> c: to distinguish between or make independently visible adjacent parts of d: to separate (a racemic compound or mixture) into the two
components 3: to cause resolution of (a pathological state) 4 a: to deal with successfully : clear up <resolve doubts> <resolve a dispute> b: to find an
answer to c: to make clear or understandable d: to find a mathematical solution of e: to split up (as a vector) into two or more components
especially in assigned directions 5: to reach a firm decision about <resolve to get more sleep> <resolve disputed points in a text> 6 a: to declare or
decide by a formal resolution and vote b: to change by resolution or formal vote <the house resolved itself into a committee> 7: to make (as voice parts)
progress from dissonance to consonance 8: to work out the resolution of (as a play)
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Resolved = Reach a firm decision
Resolved means determined in intent.
Random House Unabridged 6 (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=resolved&r=66)
re·solved Audio Help /rɪˈzɒlvd/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ri-zolvd] –adjective firm
in purpose or intent; determined.
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Resolved = Reach a firm decision
Resolved mean to make a firm decision
American Heritage 0 (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition, http://www.bartleby.com/61/87/R0178700.html)
Resolve TRANSITIVE VERB:1.
express by formal vote.
To make a firm decision about. 2. To cause (a person) to reach a decision. See
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synonyms at decide. 3. To decide or
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The = All Parts
‘The’ means all parts.
Merriam-Websters 8
Online Collegiate Dictionary, http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
4 -- used as a function word before a noun or a substantivized adjective to indicate
reference to a group as a whole <the elite>
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The = Particularizes noun
“The” particularizes the noun it precedes thus specifying what particular thing is
meant
Words and Phrases Second Series, 1914, Updated 1964, Volume 4, 1905, pg. 893.
As designating a particular object
The article “the” directs what particular thing or things are to be taken or assumed as spoken of, and determine what
particular thing is meant. It is used before nouns with a specifying or particularizing effect so that its use immediately preceding
“state” in the constitutional requirement that indictments shall conclude “against the peace and dignity of the state,” points out the state whose peace and dignity
has been offended, and its omission in the indictment is a fatal defect.
The word “the” specifies the noun after it
Webster’s II New College Dictionary, 1995, pg.1143.
1. a. – Used before singular or plural nouns and noun phrases that denote particular persons or things <read the newspaper> b. – Used
before a noun,
and generally stressed, emphasizing one of a group or type as the most outstanding or prominent <...continues...>
The word “the” particularizes its noun.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2007.
The (PARTICULAR) – determiner – 1 used
before nouns to refer to things or people when a listener or reader knows which
particular things or people are being referred to, especially because they have already been mentioned or because what is happening makes it
clear:
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The = Particularizes noun
The word “the” specifies the noun after it
Webster’s II New College Dictionary, 1995, pg.1143.
1. a. – Used before singular or plural nouns and noun phrases that denote particular persons or things <read the newspaper> b. – Used
before a noun,
and generally stressed, emphasizing one of a group or type as the most outstanding or prominent <...continues...>
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The = Particularizes noun
The word “the” particularizes its noun.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2007.
The (PARTICULAR) – determiner – 1 used
before nouns to refer to things or people when a listener or reader knows which
particular things or people are being referred to, especially because they have already been mentioned or because what is happening makes it
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USFG = National government
Federal government is the national government that expresses power
Black’s Law 4 Dictionary, 8th Edition, June 1, pg.716.
Federal government. 1. A national government that exercises some degree of control over smaller political units that
have surrendered some degree of power in exchange for the right to participate in national politics matters – Also
termed (in federal states) central government. 2. the U.S. government – Also termed national government. [Cases: United States -1
C.J.S. United States - - 2-3]
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USFG = National Government
Federal government is central government
WORDNET 97, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=federal%20government.
Federal government. n: a government with strong central powers
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USFG = National Government
The federal government specifically refers to the national government
Susan Ellis Wild, (Editor), WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD LAW DICTIONARY, 06, 141. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley)
Federal: Pertaining to a system of government such as that adopted in the United States, in which a national
government oversees a federal of local governments, with distinctly designed but overlapping responsibilities.
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Substantially = Large Amount
Substantially is to a large degree
Cambridge International Dictionary of English 1, (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/default.asp?dict=A)
Substantially - adverb - The new rules will substantially (=to a large degree) change how we do things.
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Substantially = Large Amount
Substantial refers to considerable amount, quantity, or size
The Random House College Dictionary 73, p. 844
Substantial - is of ample or considerable amount, quantity, or size.
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Substantially = Must be defined contextually
The definition of substantially must be interpreted contextually
CJS ’83 (Corpus Juris Secundum, Vol. 83)
Substantially: A relative and elastic term which should be interpreted in accordance
While it must be employed with care and discrimination, it must, nevertheless, be given effect.
with the context in which it is used.
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Substantially = Without Material Qualifications/Essentially
Substantially means without qualification
DON BLEWETT, 1976 (Chairperson California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, Young v. Laura Scudder’s
Pet, Inc. January 29, 1976. www.cuiab.ca.gov/precedent/pb181.doc.)
"Substantially. Essentially;
without material qualification; in the main; in substance; materially; in a substantial
manner. Kirkpatrick v. Journal Pub. Co., 210 Ala. 10, 97 So. 58, 59; Gibson v. Glos, 271 I11. 368, I11 N.E. 123, 124; McEwen v. New York Life Ins. Co., 23
Cal. App. 694, 139 P. 242, 243. About, actually, competently, and essentially. Gilmore v. Red Top Cab Co. of Washington, 171 Wash. 346, 17 P. 2d 886, 887."
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Increase = To make larger
Increase means to make larger.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2007
Increase: to (make something)
become larger in amount or size:
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Increase = To Make Larger
Increase means to make larger.
WordNet, wordnet.princeton.edu, 2006.
S: (v) increase (make bigger or more) "The boss finally increased her salary"; "The university increased the number of students it admitted"
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Increase = Net increase
Increase must be a net increase
Rogers, 05 (Judge, STATE OF NEW YORK, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, RESPONDENT, NSR
MANUFACTURERS ROUNDTABLE, ET AL., INTERVENORS, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 12378, **; 60 ERC (BNA) 1791, 6/24, lexis)
[**48] Statutory Interpretation. HN16While the CAA defines a "modification" as any physical or operational change that "increases" emissions, it is silent on how
to calculate such "increases" in emissions. 42 U.S.C. § 7411(a)(4). According to government petitioners, the lack of a statutory definition does not render the term
"increases" ambiguous, but merely compels the court to give the term its "ordinary meaning." See Engine Mfrs.Ass'nv.S.Coast AirQualityMgmt.Dist., 541 U.S.
246, 124 S. Ct. 1756, 1761, 158 L. Ed. 2d 529(2004); Bluewater Network, 370 F.3d at 13; Am. Fed'n of Gov't Employees v. Glickman, 342 U.S. App. D.C. 7, 215
F.3d 7, 10 [*23] (D.C. Cir. 2000). Relying on two "real world" analogies, government petitioners contend that the
ordinary meaning of "increases"
requires the baseline to be calculated from a period immediately preceding the change. They maintain, for example, that in
determining whether a high-pressure weather system "increases" the local temperature, the relevant baseline is the temperature immediately preceding the
in determining whether a new engine "increases"
the value of a car, the relevant baseline is the value of the car immediately preceding the replacement of the engine,
arrival of the weather system, not the temperature five or ten years ago. Similarly, [**49]
not the value of the car five or ten years ago when the engine was in perfect condition.
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Increase = Pre-existing
Increase requires pre-existence
Buckley et al 6
attorney (Jeremiah, Amicus Curiae Brief, Safeco Ins. Co. of America et al v. Charles Burr et al,
http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/briefs/06-84/06-84.mer.ami.mica.pdf)
First, the court said that the ordinary meaning of the word “increase” is “to make something greater,” which it believed should not “be limited to cases in which a
company raises the rate that an individual has previously been charged.” 435 F.3d at 1091. Yet the definition offered by the Ninth Circuit compels the opposite
Because “increase” means “to make something greater,” there must necessarily have been an existing
premium, to which Edo’s actual premium may be compared, to determine whether an “increase” occurred. Congress could have provided
conclusion.
that “ad-verse action” in the insurance context means charging an amount greater than the optimal premium, but instead chose to define adverse action in terms
of an “increase.” That def-initional choice must be respected, not ignored. See Colautti v. Franklin, 439 U.S. 379, 392-93 n.10 (1979) (“[a] defin-ition which
declares what a term ‘means’ . . . excludes any meaning that is not stated”). Next, the Ninth Circuit reasoned that because the Insurance Prong includes the
words “existing or applied for,” Congress intended that an “increase in any charge” for insurance must “apply to all insurance transactions – from an initial policy
of insurance to a renewal of a long-held policy.” 435 F.3d at 1091. This interpretation reads the words “exist-ing or applied for” in isolation. Other types of
adverse action described in the Insurance Prong apply only to situations where a consumer had an existing policy of insurance, such as a “cancellation,”
“reduction,” or “change” in insurance. Each of these forms of adverse action presupposes an already-existing policy, and under
usual canons of
statutory construction the term “increase” also should be construed to apply to increases of an already-existing
policy. See Hibbs v. Winn, 542 U.S. 88, 101 (2004) (“a phrase gathers meaning from the words around it”) (citation omitted).
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Increase = Pre-existing
Increase requires pre-existence
Brown 3 – US Federal Judge for the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON (ELENA MARK and PAUL GUSTAFSON,
Plaintiffs, v. VALLEY INSURANCE COMPANY and VALLEY PROPERTY AND CASUALTY, Defendants, 7/17, lexis)
FCRA does not define the term "increase." The plain and ordinary meaning of the verb "to increase" is to make something greater or
larger. 4 Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 589 (10th ed. 1998). The "something" that is increased in the statute is the "charge for any insurance." The
plain and common meaning of the noun "charge" is "the price demanded for something." Id. at 192. Thus, the statute plainly means an insurer takes adverse
action if the insurer makes greater (i.e., larger) the price demanded for insurance. An insurer cannot "make greater" something that did not
exist previously. The statutory definition of adverse action, therefore, clearly anticipates an insurer must have made
an initial charge or demand for payment before the insurer can increase that charge. In other words, an insurer cannot increase
the charge for insurance unless the insurer previously set and demanded payment of the premium for that insured's insurance coverage at a lower price.
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Increase = Not Pre-existing
Increase doesn’t require pre-existence
Reinhardt 5
(Stephen, U.S. Judge for the UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT, JASON RAY REYNOLDS; MATTHEW
RAUSCH, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. HARTFORD FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP, INC.; HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendants-Appellees.,
lexis)
Specifically, we must decide whether charging a higher price for initial insurance than the insured would otherwise have been charged because of information in
a consumer credit report constitutes an "increase in any charge" within the meaning of FCRA. First, we examine the definitions of "increase" and "charge."
Hartford Fire contends that, limited to their ordinary definitions, these words apply only when a consumer has previously been charged for insurance and that
charge has thereafter been increased by the insurer. The phrase, "has previously been charged," as used by Hartford, refers not only to a rate that the consumer
has previously paid for insurance but also to a rate that the consumer has previously been quoted, even if that rate was increased before the consumer made
any payment. Reynolds disagrees, asserting that, under the ordinary definition of the term, an increase in a charge also occurs
whenever an insurer charges a higher rate than it would otherwise have charged because of any factor--such as adverse
credit information, age, or driving record 8 --regardless of whether the customer was previously charged some other rate. According
to Reynolds, he was charged an increased rate because of his credit rating when he was compelled to pay a rate higher than the premium rate because he failed
to obtain a high insurance score. Thus, he argues, the definitions of "increase" and "charge" encompass the insurance companies' practice. Reynolds is correct.
“Increase" means to make something greater. See, e.g., OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY (2d ed. 1989) ("The action, process, or fact of
becoming or making greater; augmentation, growth, enlargement, extension."); WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH (3d college
ed. 1988) (defining "increase" as "growth, enlargement, etc[.]"). "Charge" means the price demanded for goods or services. See, e.g., OXFORD ENGLISH
DICTIONARY (2d ed. 1989) ("The price required or demanded for service rendered, or (less usually) for goods supplied."); WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD
DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN ENGLISH (3d college ed. 1988) ("The cost or price of an article, service, etc."). Nothing
implies that the term "increase in any charge for" should
has previously been charged.
in the definition of these words
be limited to cases in which a company raises the rate that an individual
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Must change behavior of target state
Economic engagement is designed to change the behavior of the target state.
Miles Kahler
& Scott Kastner, (Prof., International Relations, U. California at San Diego/Prof., Government, U.
Maryland), JOURNAL OF PEACE RESEARCH, Sept. 2006, 524.
Economic engagement – a policy of deliberately expanding economic ties with an adversary in order to change the
behavior of the target state and improve bilateral political relations – is a subject of growing interest in international relations. Most
research on economic statecraft emphasizes coercive policies such as economic sanctions. This emphasis on negative forms of economic statecraft is not
without justification: the use of economic sanctions is widespread and well documented, and several quantitative studies have shown that adversarial relations
between countries tend to correspond to reduced, rather than enhanced, levels of trade. At the same time, however, relatively little is known about how often
strategies of economic engagement are deployed.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Must change behavior of target state
Economic engagement is defined as a policy to shape the behavior of the target
state.
Richard Haas, (Dir., Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution), SURVIVAL, SUMMER 2000, 114.
Certainly it does not preclude the simultaneous use of other foreign policy instruments such as sanctions or military force; in practice, there is often considerable
overlap of strategies, particularly when the termination or lifting of sanctions is used as a positive inducement. The distinguishing feature of
American engagement strategies is their reliance on the extension or provision of incentives to shape the behavior of
countries with which the U.S. has important disagreements.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
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Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Distinct from diplomatic/military engagement
Economic engagement is distinct from diplomatic or military engagement.
Richard Haas, (Dir., Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution), SURVIVAL, SUMMER 2000, 115.
Similarly, political engagement can involve the lure of diplomatic recognition, access to regional or international
institutions, the scheduling of summits between leaders – or the termination of these benefits. Military engagement
could involve the extension of international military-educational training in order both to strengthen respect for civilian
authority and human rights among a country’s armed forces and, more feasibly, to establish relationships between
Americans and young foreign military officers.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
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Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Economic incentives
Economic engagement consists of economic incentives.
Richard Haas, (Dir., Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution), SURVIVAL, SUMMER 2000, 114-115.
Architects of engagement strategies can choose from a wide variety of incentives. Economic engagement might offer tangible incentives
such as export credits, investment insurance or promotion, access to technology, loans or economic aid. Other
equally useful economic incentives involve the removal of penalties such as trade embargoes, investment bans or
high tariffs, which have impeded economic relations between the United States and the target country.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Economic Incentives
Economic engagement includes economic incentives
Richard Haass, (President, Council on Foreign Relations & Former Dir., Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution), HONEY AND VINEGAR:
INCENTIVES, SANCTIONS, AND FOREIGN POLICY, 200 0, 5.
Architects of engagement strategies have a wide variety of incentives from which to choose. Economic
engagement might offer tangible
incentives such as export credits, investment insurance or promotion, access to technology, loans, and economic aid.
Other equally useful economic incentives involve the 28 removal of penalties, whether they be trade embargoes,
investment bans, or high tariffs that have impeded economic relations between the United States and the target country. In addition,
facilitated entry into the global economic arena and the institutions that govern it rank among the most potent incentives in today’s
global market.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Positive Incentives
Economic engagement is the use of positive economic incentives to achieve
objectives.
Richard Haas, (Dir., Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution), SURVIVAL, SUMMER 2000, 113-114.
The term “engagement” was popularized in the early 1980s amid controversy about the Reagan administration’s policy of “constructive engagement” towards
South Africa. However, the term itself remains a source of confusion. Except in the few instances where the U.S. has sought to isolate a regime or country,
America arguably “engages” states and actors all the time simply by interacting with them. To be a meaningful
subject of analysis, the term “engagement” must refer to something more specific than a policy of “non-isolation.” As used in this
article, “engagement” refers to a foreign policy strategy which depends to a significant degree on positive incentives to
achieve its objectives.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Positive Incentives
Economic engagement is the use of positive economic carrots rather than negative
economic sticks.
Michael Mastanduno, (Prof., Government, Dartmouth College), ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE AND
INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT, July 2010, 175.
Under what circumstances does the cultivation of economic ties, that is, the fostering of economic interdependence
as a conscious state strategy, lead to important and predictable changes in the foreign policy behavior of a target
state? Students of economic statecraft refer to this strategy variously as economic engagement, economic
inducement, economic diplomacy, positive sanctions, positive economic linkage, or the use of economic “carrots”
instead of sticks. Critics of the strategy call it economic appeasement.
Making dreams come true one T-file at a time.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Engagement = Binding commitment
Engagement must be binding
Sandra Anderson, (Editor), COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY UNABRIDGED, 2006, 543.
Engagement: A promise, obligation, or other condition that binds.
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T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement – Laundry List
Economic engagement includes trade, investment and assistance
John Delury, (Prof., International Relations, Yonsei U., Seoul), AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY INTERESTS, Apr. 26, 2012, 71-
Economic engagement includes state-backed assistance, marketbased provincial trade, and long-term strategic
investment. Assistance includes technical assistance, knowledge sharing and human capacity building – in effect,
educating North Korean counterparts on the China model of market transition and authoritarian capitalism.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement – Laundry List
Economic engagement includes trade, finance, energy, development, transportation
and telecommunications
Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State, WHAT IS TOTAL ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT?, Jan. 17, 2009. Retrieved Jan. 9,
2013 from http://2001-2009.state.gov/e/eeb/92986.htm.
Total Economic Engagement seeks to integrate and coordinate all U.S. economic instruments and programs into our
regional and country strategies. The Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs’ (EEB) broad cross-section of economic disciplines,
interagency contacts, and expertise in such areas as trade, finance, energy, development, transportation, and
telecommunications help ensure this coordination.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement – Laundry List
Economic engagement includes economic policies, trade, remittances and foreign
direct investment.
Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, U.S.
Department of State, WHAT IS TOTAL ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT?, Jan. 17, 200 9. (http://2001-2009.state.gov/e/eeb/92986.htm.)
An accurate accounting of a nation’s total engagement must include economic policies as well as, trade, remittances, and
foreign direct investment. In these areas, the U.S. leads the world in total economic engagement with the developing
world. The private donations of American citizens, military emergency aid and peacekeeping and government assistance provide the primary sources for
development financing.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
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Hellebuick
Economic Engagement – Laundry List
Total US economic engagement includes foreign aid, private assistance, philanthropy
and private investment.
Carol Adelman, (Dir., Center for Science in Public Policy), AMERICA’S TOTAL ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT WITH THE DEVELOPING WORLD, June 28,
2005,
1. The following table, using the latest official government figures as well, shows total
U.S. economic engagement with developing countries. This
our government foreign aid or ODA, our private assistance or philanthropy, and our private capital
flows or private investment overseas.
engagement includes
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Trade
Economic Engagement = Trade
Arda Celik, (Prof., International Studies, Uppsala U.), ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AND ENGAGEMENT POLICIES, 20 11, 11.
Economic engagement targets to seek deeper economic linkages via promoting institutionalized mutual trade thus
mentioned interdependence creates two major concepts. Firstly it builds strong trade partnership to avoid possible militarized and non-militarized conflicts.
Secondly it gives a leeway to perceive the international political atmosphere from the same and harmonized perspective.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
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Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Private Sector
Economic engagement includes private sector growth promotion
Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State, WHAT IS TOTAL ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT?,
Jan. 17, 2009. (http://2001-2009.state.gov/e/eeb/92986.htm)
Our goal, therefore, must be the creation of the right conditions for individual economic growth and success. We must
cultivate conditions for private sector growth, investment and trade. This cannot be accomplished through Official Development
Assistance (ODA) funds alone. Foreign assistance must support a developing country’s own effort to improve their economic
climate. Total economic engagement is putting all of the players to the same plow.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Aid
Economic Engagement includes foreign aid.
Helen Milner, (Prof., Politics, Princeton U.), INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION, Winter 2011, 58.
Even though aid is a smaller part of the U.S. economy than trade, aid is
often seen as an important means of economic engagement
with the world economy
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Lifting Embargo
Empirically in the status quo, lawmakers have sought to end the embargo as a form
of economic engagement
Free Enterprise April 30th, 2009 “Donohue Calls for Economic Engagement with Cuba” (https://www.freeenterprise.com/article/donohue-calls-foreconomic-engagement-with-cuba)
The United States must ease restrictions on trade and travel to Cuba or its businesses will continue to lose out on a
major export market of 11 million consumers located just ninety miles off the U.S. coastline, U.S. Chamber President
and CEO Tom Donohue said during a May 5 congressional briefing.
Donohue joined a bipartisan group of 14 House lawmakers, including Ways and Means Committee Chairman
Charles Rangel (D-NY), to call for the repeal of the 50-year-old travel and trade embargo on Cuba. Donohue pointed
out that engagement with Cuba would move the island-nation toward a more democratic and free society and present economic
opportunities to both American and Cuban businesses and farmers. "For the benefit of both countries, it's time to turn
the page," Donohue said. "We're missing major economic opportunities because of the embargo–opportunities that have
eagerly been taken up by other countries."
Donohue applauded recent steps by President Obama to loosen restrictions on travel to Cuba and called on the administration to lift travel restrictions for
everyone, not just those with family members in Cuba.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Lifting Embargo
Lifting the embargo would spur further economic engagement
Philip Peters, (President, Lexington Institute), POLICY ANALYSIS, Nov. 2, 2000, 8.
Washington should go beyond those measures to allow greater economic engagement in Cuba. In addition to lifting the travel
ban, sectors such as agriculture, housing, and telecommunications should be freed of all embargorelated restrictions
so that full trade and investment could take place
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Economic Engagement = Lifting Embargo
The embargo on Cuba is what’s inhibiting economic engagement now
Miroslav Nincic, (Prof., Political Science, U. California at Davis), THE LOGIC OF POSITIVE ENGAGEMENT, 20 11, 110.
Ultimately, the impact of positive incentives will depend on the evolution of Cuban politics. The
biggest incentive the United States can offer is
to dismantle its economic embargo. If legal obstacles to economic engagement were removed, meaningful
commercial and investment links could be expected to follow the natural course of material interests. A number of state-tostate agreements, in areas such as migration and counter-narcotics, could be expected
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Hellebuick
Toward = In relation to
Toward means in relation to
Frederick Mish, (Editor), MERRIAM WEBSTER’S COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 1998, 1248.
Toward: In relation to.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
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Hellebuick
Toward = In the direction of
Toward means in the direction of someone of something
Stephen Bullon, (Editor), LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH, 2005, 1758.
Toward: Used to say that someone or something moves, looks, faces, etc. in the direction of someone or something.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
Or = Only one country
“Or” requires the affirmative to choose which country in the resolution they wish to
increase economic engagement toward
World English Dictionary, 2013. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/or?s=t)
or 1 (
, ( unstressed )
) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide] — conj 1. used to
apples or pears or cheese ; apples, pears, or cheese
join alternatives: apples or pears ;
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ASPEC
1.
Interpretation: the aff must specify which of the 3 branches of the federal government
passes the plan
2. Violation – They claim the USFG as their actor
3. Prefer our interpretation:
a. Ground – By not specifying, the affirmative infringes on agent-specific counterplans
and disadvantages
b. Vagueness – Not specifying allows for 2AC clarification which guts predictability
c. Real world education: The United States Federal Government does not enact
policies unanimously, rather it is always one or more branch that takes jurisdiction
4. ASPEC is a voter for competitive equity
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OSPEC
1. Interpretation: The affirmative must defend all three branches of the federal government
2. Violation: They specify ______ as their agent
3. Prefer our interpretation:
a. Predictability: Allowing them to specify their agents results in the affirmative being
able to specify minute, unpredictable agents that the negative team would not be
able to prepare for. This destroys clash by giving the advantage to the affirmative.
b. Extra-T: Specifying an agent allows them to claim specific agent advantages that go
beyond the scope of the topic. Extra-T is a voting issue because it proves the
resolution is insufficient and is a no-cost burden for the aff.
4. OSPEC is a voter for fairness and competitive equity
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Extra T Bad
1. Interpretation: Advantages must stem from the passage of plan through the USFG.
Advantages that don’t are extra-topical.
2. Violation: The affirmative garners advantages from their presentation of the affirmative
[specify how!]
3. Prefer our interpretation:
a. Predictability: Affirmatives that generate offense from outside of their plan text
explode the topic because there are an infinite number of advantages that they can
tangentially relate to the topic. Affirmatives could stand up and read movie scripts
that have little to do with the topic yet claim offense off of them, exploding the
negative research burden.
b. Bidirectionality: Our interpretation forces affirmatives to affirm the passage of the
plan ensures stable ground for the negative.
c. Extra T bad: Allows affirmatives to always outweigh our CP/DA by having access to
extra, amazig, advantages that they would otherwise not have. Vote down extra
topical plans to ensure fairness.
4. This is a voter for fairness, education, and competitive equity
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Extra T: Reasons to Reject
Extra topical advantages do not warrant an affirmative ballot
Bennett '89 (William; Pragmatic Debate; p. 6)
If' an advantage a harm solution stems from an extratopical plan plank, the affirmative has not, in that area, shown
that the topic should be adopted.
Extra topical advantages destroy negative ground: extra topical advantages stem from areas of
ground which compose the non-resolution. Since this is where negative counterplan ground
comes from, permitting extra topical planks is highly destructive of counterplan ground.
Extra topical plan planks destroy debate: Affirmatives can utilize extra topical planks to spike
out of any disadvantage ran by the negative. Thus fair clash is eliminated, leaving no viable benefit
of the activity.
Extra topicality negates fair warning: The resolution serves to warn all parties to the round of the
issues which will be dealt with. When affirmative advocates extra topical ground, fair warning is
eliminated and the negative team is unfairly disadvantaged.
Policymaking paradigm supports rejection of extra topical cases: When the President is presented
with a bill, he does not have the option to veto only portions of it. Thus, the critic should not reject
only the extra topical planks. Instead, the critic should reject the plan in its entirety.
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
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FX Topicality Bad
1. Effects unlimit the resolution - Numerous policies or cases could have the effect of bringing
about topical action circuitously. This kills all predictability and competitive equity in the
debate
2. Effects Undercut Negative Ground - If the Affirmative team gets all indirect and probabilistic
means to a topical outcome, very little Negative ground is left in the debate. This kills
allcompetitive equity, education, and clash.
3. Effects Make Topicality and Solvency Unnecessary - Effectually topical cases mix burdens
and force the judge to assess solvency first, destroying all possible education and clash in
the debate round. This violates the principle that prima facie issues should be kept
conceptually separate
4. Effects are Inherently Problematic - Topicality is a yes or no stock issue. If probabilities are
evaluated in this manner, at least the Affirmative team should have to prove a greater than
50% chance that topical action will result from plan
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
T Starter Pack
Hellebuick
T is a Voter
1. Competitive equity - in order for us to have a competitive debate and for the
negative to have equal ground the judge must be able to vote on topicality in order to
check back ground distribution
2. Fairness - we can't allow blatantly non topical cases to be run throughout the year,
this explodes our research burden and prevents an educational debate
3. Competing interpretations - as long as we can prove that our interpretation is
better for debate and they don't meet this interpretation then they should lose the
round
4. Potential abuse - they will continue to run this case the entire year, your ballot acts
as a means to stop future abuse by this team, your ballet could not only improve
education in this round but in dozens of rounds in the future
5. Jurisdiction - the judge acts as a policy-maker in round. In accordance with that
the judge is given a certain jurisdiction in which they can render decisions which in
this case is the resolution. If the affirmative falls outside of the resolution then you
cannot vote for that case no matter how good it is
6. Predictability - everything found under our interpretation of the resolution is a
predictable case, everything which is outside of our interpretation is not. Not having
a predictable case destroys education as we cannot have in depth debates. Allowing
any case would make policy debate into a forum where people merely preach their
ideas and nobody has the ability to respond or argue
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Beehive Forensics Institute ‘13
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Hellebuick
Competing Interpretations Good
1. It’s the only non-arbitrary standard: abuse and reasonability are inherently subjective and
beg for judge intervention, which destroys debate and education
2. All research claims should be based on the best interpretation of the topic
3. The best interpretation can actually be determined via evaluating a certain set of standards
4. Competing interpretation produces real world education: discussing the effects of
interpretations is a skill used in law and other professions. Further, it translates into other
areas of argumentation such as impact calculus. Impact calc isn’t just used to determine
probability of nuke war.
5. Competing interpretations are key to ground: predicting cases requires voting for the best
interpretation of the topic to give negatives stable boundaries to research within
6. Any other way to evaluate topicality would moot the resolution, killing all predictability
7. Reasonability and abuse aren’t predictable, it creates bad debate by allowing a subjective
judge to vote for non-topical cases, it also kills education by being a fluid standard that
destroys predictability and preparation.
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