This team has only debated at the D8 NDT Qualifier thus far.  Jake Shaner has debated hybrid with a Princeton debater (Takumi Murayama) for Harvard, Wake, Rutgers, and the Texas Swings, so they may read arguments that have been previously disclosed on the Columbia Murayama-Shaner wiki pages.

Observation 1: No Disads

Health care thumps all court links

Kliff 12

(The health care law, the Supreme Court and the right not to recuse By Sarah Kliff, Sunday, January 1, 1:12 PM © The Washington Post Company Sarah joined the Post in August 2011 from Politico, where she authored Politico Pulse, a daily health policy tipsheet. Prior to Politico, Sarah was a staff writer at Newsweek covering national politics. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic, the BBC, Humanities Magazine and St. Louis Magazine. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Kaiser Family Foundation and University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism. Sarah Kliff covers health policy for the Washington Post.)

Don Heupel The Year End… of the country’s highest court.

The Court is going to embroiled in a laundry list of huge controversies all year

Denniston 11

(Lyle Denniston, Adviser on Constitutional Literacy, National Constitution Center Political Trouble Ahead for the Supreme Court  12/13/11  This post first appeared on Constitution Daily, the blog of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. )

Politics and judging are supposed to… for the term after the current one.

Foreign policy will have no effect on the outcome of the 2012 presidential election

Jason W. Davidson, associate professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington.” Why foreign policy won’t matter (much) in 2012.” Aspenia Online, April 14, 2011. http://www.aspeninstitute.it/aspenia-online/article/why-foreign-policy-won%E2%80%99t-matter-much-2012.

Upon the conclusion of the 1991… problem facing the country.

Observation 2: No Joke

Roleplaying is awesome

Innes and Booher 99

(Judith, Professor of City & Regional Planning and Ph.D. from MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, David, studied planning at the University of Tennessee andpolitical science at Tulane University. He is a Planning and Policy Consultant and a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, “Consensus building as role playingand bricolage: Toward a theory of collaborative planning,” Journal of the American Planning Association).

Our observation and practice of… fundamental sense empowers individuals.

Focusing on representations just locks in power—policy analysis is better

Taft-Kaufman 95

(Jill, Professor of Speech – CMU, Southern Communication Journal, Vol. 60, Issue 3, Spring)

The postmodern passwords of "polyvocality," "Otherness,"… and the budgets that fuel them.

Pragmatic plans of action are key to generating progressive politics

Richard Rorty, philosopher, Achieving Our Country, 1998, p. 98-99

The cultural Left often seems… might revitalize leftist politics.

Especially on this topic, predictions are necessary and accurate

de Mesquite 11

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is Silver Professor of Politics at New York University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution B.A. from Queens, M.A. from Michigan, PhD from Michigan, "FOX-HEDGING OR KNOWING: ONE BIG WAY TO KNOW MANY THINGS" July 18 www.cato-unbound.org/2011/07/18/bruce-bueno-de-mesquita/fox-hedging-or-knowing-one-big-way-to-know-many-things/

Given what we know today and given… we progress toward better prediction.

Working within institutions is imperative to enact change

Lawrence Grossburg, University of Illinois, We Gotta Get Outta This Place, 1992, p. 391-393

The Left needs institutions which can… minorities into a new majority.

Plan: The United States federal government should substantially increase its judicial exchanges with the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court.

Observation 3: Heart of the Topic

Judicial exchanges are “in the main” for US democracy assistance

Narasimhan 8 

[Angela G. Narasimhan Doctoral Candidate Department of Political Science Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Syracuse University, “Domestic Courts, Global Changes: International Influences On The Post-Cold War Supreme Court”, Paper prepared for The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media Syracuse University March 18, 2008, http://jpm.syr.edu/pdf/fellowpdfs/15_a.pdf]

This summer, five of the… law in transitional countries (Carothers 2005). 

And, Obama concludes we’re topical

White House 10

[White House, “Democracy & Human Rights”, 2010, http://m.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/presidents-speech-cairo-a-new-beginning/democracy-human-rights]

Bolstering Democracy Assistance: The… enshrine the rule of law abroad.

Observation 4: The Agony

The Egyptian criminal justice system has a long, sordid history of torturing any and all accused criminals, never to prosecute the perpetrators

ICRT, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims. “Appeal to Egypt: end torture.” December 10, 2005.

According to Susan Fayad, the director… never once has the SSIS been brought to court. 

And, this practice has continued under the reign of the SCAF

ICRT, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims. “Egypt must do more to end violence and investigate torture.” February 6, 2012.

The IRCT today calls for the… democratic and human rights values. 

Torture is pure evil –

The pain induced by torture destroys what makes us agents and overwhelms existence itself – when tortured, the only perception is that of overwhelming pain

Elaine Scarry, professor of philosophy at Harvard University. The Body in Pain. 1987, pp. 54-56.

A fifth dimension of physical pain… the palpable manifestation of the prisoner's pain.

This pain is so consuming that it robs the tortured of all that makes them agents – a fate far worse than death

Elaine Scarry, professor of philosophy at Harvard University. The Body in Pain. 1987, pp. 34-36.

The position of the person who… display, an unfurling of world maps.

Observation 5: The Ecstasy

Judicial exchanges between the US and Egypt are crucial to the expansion of the rule of law and the upholding of judicial independence in the Egyptian judicial system

Slaughter 4

Anne-Marie, “A New World Order”, 2004, P. 99, http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=WzG5qJM0AekC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PR4

Perhaps the clearest illustration… was the reminder: “I am not alone.”171

And, judicial independence is the first step to building a framework by which to end the crime of torture

Edouard Delaplace, Senior Programme Officer for the UN and a legal advior at the Association for the Prevention of Torture, and Matt Pollard, a legal advior at the Association for the Prevention of Torture. “Torture prevention in practice.” Torture, 16:3 (2006), p. 226.

All law enforcement officials… functioning of the institution.

And, only the United States has the legal history and framework to effectively promote judicial independence in other nations

Gur-Arie 9

Mira is director of the International Judicial Relations Office of the Federal Judicial Center, the education and research agency for the U.S. federal courts,  15 Oct 2009, “Judges Coming Together: International Exchanges and the U.S. Judiciary”, http://www.uspolicy.be/headline/judges-coming-together.

Visitors to the U.S. courts from… court administrators in the U.S. judiciary.

And Egypt will say yes – they have a history of judicial reform and respect for the rule of law

Sherif and Brown 2            

Dr. Adel Omar Sherif President, Commissioners’ Body Supreme Constitutional Court Of Egypt, and Dr. Nathan J. Brown Professor Of Political Science And International Affairs 2002 “Judicial Independence In The Arab World A Study Presented To The Program Of Arab Governance Of The United Nations Development Program” Drao Sherif,  2002, The George Washington University

Arab states have made a clear… for the reputation of Arab governance

And, the perception of support from the US Supreme Court is all that is necessary to solve

Ken Kersch, assistant professor of politics at Princeton University. “The Supreme Court and International Relations Theory.” August 8, 2006.

Many foreign policy liberals have… order with the emerging international one.

Our politics of pity is the only ethical choice – engagement in a politics of compassion is both natural and good

Conway 99

(David, Middlesex University, “Nietzsche's Revaluation of Schopenhauer as Educator,” June 5, http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/MPsy/MPsyConw.htm, dbm)

Nonetheless, Nietzsche was mistaken… badly if one remains only a pupil".

Chapter 1:  The Sacred

US democracy assistance imposes a static, neoliberal notion of democracy onto other countries to bring them into the fold of the Western tradition. This international policing forms the basis of biopolitical management through sacred, social scripts defined by the West.

Alison J. Ayers, Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University. “Imperial Liberties: Democratisation and Governance in the ‘New’ Imperial Order”, Political Studies, Vol. 57, Issue 1. March 2009.

US democracy assistance

Transformation in the three ‘spheres’… Chile, Guatemala and Nicaragua (Slater, 2002).

The ideology of biopolitical management found in the neoliberal democratic regime is also reflected within policy debate.  Debate has evolved from an exclusive forum for future policymakers to a paradoxical community that is ungrounded and constantly shifting.  For example, what it means to be resolved has undergone scrutiny—K affs interrogated what it means to be the subject of the resolution, and the proliferation of these perspectives show how there is no single, universal way to affirm.  Yet, to maintain policy debate’s location as the intersection between competition and education, some participants engage in sacred rituals to produce absolute, prima facie issues that determine what is and isn’t productive debate.  The maintenance of the sacred requires ritual acts of sacrifice in the name of linguistic commonality—debaters are forced to disclose their arguments in a manner intelligible to the majority, which mandates the destruction of alterity.

Secomb 2K (Linnell, a lecturer in Gender Studies at the University of Sydney, “Fractured Community,” Hypatia – volume 15, Number 2, Spring 2000, pp. 138-9//shree)

This reformulated universalist model of community… conversation that assume homogeneity and transparency.

The systematic exclusion of the unintelligible from pedagogy is biopolitics par excellance—it requires the extermination of the Other to ascertain the health of debate.  Even liberal forms become totalitarian as they become concerned with the administration of life in the name of everyone—this makes unconditional violence inevitable.

Hoffmann 7 (Kasper, International Development Studies at Roskilde University, May, Militarised Bodies and Spirits of Resistance, http://diggy.ruc.dk:8080/handle/1800/2766 //shree)

In modern forms of government, concepts… fundamental feature of modern processes of government.

Biopolitical violence is not exclusive to molar apparatuses of the state—the most dangerous forms of fascism are the molecular microfascisms we sustain in forums like debate.

Deleuze and Guattari 80 (Gilles and Felix, Profs of Phil, A Thousand Plateaus, p. 214-5//shree)

Doubtless, fascism invented the… molecules both personal and collective.

The biopolitical determination of the threshold beyond which life ceases to have juridical value creates the category of a “life devoid of value” which spills over to the biological body of every living being and nullifies value to death

Agamben 98 (Giorgio, professor of philosophy at university of Verona, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, pg. 139-140//shree)

It is not our intention here to… biological body of every living being.

To force ourselves to maintain the sacredness of social scripts in debate is one that breeds alienation and suicidal nihilism—we can only find solace in the death of the debate community.

Giorgio Agamben, professor of aesthetics at the University of Verona. The Coming Community. 1993, pp. 64-6//shree

But the absurdity of individual… the political task of our generation.

Columbia MS affirms –

Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its democracy assistance for one or more of the following: Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen.

Chapter 2:  The Profane

In an attempt to uphold the sacred altar of fairness in debate, many members of our community voted for a resolution that condemns the topic of democratic movements solely to a discussion of US “democracy assistance,” which eliminates core questions that do not lie within the bounds of what the community thinks is predictable.  But, the resolution can’t be reduced to the brief verbal portrait shaped by its anonymous framers and discourses of power—our affirmation is a gesture of belonging-to-impropriety that reveals the central emptiness of the resolution and simultaneously makes reading it possible while exceeding its sacred intent.
 Giorgio Agamben professor of aesthetics at the University of Verona. Profanations. 2007,  pp. 63-72//evidence under erasure, shree

In this division between the author-subject… anything like an ethical subject, a form of life. 

The resolution doesn’t inherently contain sacred content—discourses of power only crystallize when they become normalized through ritualized practices.  We profane the sacred and free the resolution from its obligatory task by affirming it without its sacred intent—this short-circuits the naturalization of power relations that makes violence possible.

Durantaye 8 (Leland de la, Assoc Prof of English @ Harvard, Homos Profanus:  Giorgio Agamben’s Profane Philosophy, Boundary 2 35:3, Duke University Press, p 28-40 //shree)

The central chapter of Profanations is… one of Agamben’s favorite terms, “inoperative.”

Setting up policy debate as a training ground for productive future citizens will be mobilized toward violence—our affirmation is a form of play that liberates debate from rigid rules and detaches humanity from the sacred.

Dragona 8 (Daphne, Independent News Media Arts Curator, WhoDaresToDe-sacralizeTodaySPlay,http://www.personalcinema.org/warport/index.php?n=Main.WhoDaresToDe-sacraliseTodaySPlay? //shree)

The risk of play being exploited… so and wait and see…

There is no historical task or biological destiny that awaits us—to affirm the profane is not a facile attempt at inclusion but calls for the development of a form of life which can make free use of its potentiality and is not constrained to sanctified criteria               

Durantaye 8 (Leland de la, Assoc Prof of English @ Harvard, Homos Profanus:  Giorgio Agamben’s Profane Philosophy, Boundary 2 35:3, Duke University Press, p 57-62 //shree)

In the closing pages of Homo Sacer, Agamben… that is every day”

Plan:

The United States federal government should substantially increase advisory support to those committed to constitutional reform in Bahrain.

Observation 1 is Inherency:

Bahrain is in political deadlock—plan key to negotiations that spark reform before violence erupts again.

Gershman 12/1

(Carl, President of the National Endowment for Democracy, 2011, “The Price of Freedom and Democracy: Defiant Bahrainis and the Arab Spring,” National Endowment for Democracy, http://www.ned.org/about/board/meet-our-president/archived-presentations-and-articles/the-price-of-freedom-and-democrac)

The core of the problem is that the country… this opportunity and realize its full potential.

The Advantage is Hegemony:

Without reform, the opposition will force Fifth Fleet withdrawal, but no alternative location exists.

Dietz 11

(David, Georgetown grad, Middle East correspondent for policymic.com, 4/21, “Should the US Reconsider its Relationship with Bahrain?” Transterra, http://www.transterramedia.com/should-us-reconsider-its-relationship-bahrain)

Matar Ebrahim Matar, a leader of… US as relocating the fleet would be to Saudi.

Now is key—any imbalance of power forces the Fifth Fleet to relocate, and current assistance is failing.

Stimson Center 11

(Henry L. Stimson Center, nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted to enhancing international peace and security through a unique combination of rigorous analysis and outreach, 7/21, “Anchors Away: The future of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain,” http://www.stimson.org/spotlight/the-us-fifth-fleet-in-bahrain/)

The home base of the US Navy's Fifth… these scenarios from materializing.

Subpoint A is Iranian Deterrence:

Fifth Fleet withdrawal collapses Iranian deterrent and allows takeover of the Strait of Hormuz.

Goodspeed 11

(Peter, award winning reporter for the National Post, 2/14, “Goodspeed Analysis: Unrest in Bahrain could threaten key US military outposts,” National Post, http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/02/14/peter-goodspeed-unrest-in-bahrain-could-threaten-key-u-s-military-outpost/)

There are concerns large-scale Shiite… world suddenly engulfs the emirate.

Allowing Iran free reign collapses hegemony from lack of credibility.

Etzioni 11

(Amitai, Director of Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies, George Wash U., former prof sociology at Columbia, Ph.D. sociology from UC Berkeley, March-April, “The Coming Test of U.S. Credibility,” Military Review, http://icps.gwu.edu/files/2011/03/credibility.pdf)

As of the beginning of 2011… up to its commitments overseas.

Subpoint B is Bases:

Perceived complicity in Bahraini crackdowns causes other host countries to shut down bases.

Cooley and Nexon 11

(Alexander, associate professor political science at Barnard, member of Institute for War and Peace Studies at Columbia, and Daniel, associate professor School of Foreign Service and Department of Government at Georgetown, 4/5, “Bahrain’s Base Politics,” Foreign Affairs, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67700/alexander-cooley-and-daniel-h-nexon/bahrains-base-politics)

The use of force and foreign troops… autocratic friends under the bus.

Pulling out of even one base collapses hegemony—can’t deter adversaries or assure allies.

Koplovsky 06

(Michael, Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Lusaka, Career Foreign Service Office, 10/23, “Precipitating the Inevitable: the Surprisingly Benign Impact of Losing Basing Rights in Bahrain,” http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA463412&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf)

Based on some of these previous… and contributes to economic development.

Subpoint C is the Fifth Fleet:

We are at the brink of naval power collapse—Bahrain withdrawal puts us over the edge.

Whiteneck, et al 10

(Daniel, Michael Price, Neil Jenkins, Peter Swartz, CNA Analysis & Solutions, March, “The Navy at a Tipping Point: Maritime Dominance at Stake?” http://www.public.navy.mil/usff/documents/navy_at_tipping_point.pdf)

Is there a logical “tipping point” that… forces, you are at the “tipping point.”

US naval power guarantees hegemony, prevents attacks on the US mainland, and deters potential rivals from even attempting to change the status quo.

Friedman 07

(George, Ph.D. gov’t at Cornell, founder, former director of Center for Geopolitical Studies at LSU, CEO, founder, STRATFOR, 4/10, “The Limitations and Necessity of Naval Power,” http://stratfor.com/limitations_and_necessity_naval_power)

This raises a more fundamental question: What… the Navy plays in U.S. national security.

Hegemony solves nuke war and extinction—multipolarity is inevitable but absolute US power smooths the transition and is empirically correlated to perpetual great-power peace.

Barnett 11

(Thomas P.M., Former Senior Strategic Researcher and Professor in the Warfare Analysis & Research Department, Center for Naval Warfare Studies, U.S. Naval War College, American military geostrategist and Chief Analyst at Wikistrat. worked as the Assistant for Strategic Futures in the Office of Force Transformation in the Department of Defense, 3/7, “The New Rules: Leadership Fatigue Puts U.S., and Globalization, at Crossroads,” World Politics Review, http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/8099/the-new-rules-leadership-fatigue-puts-u-s-and-globalization-at-crossroads)

It is worth first examining the… for the Pacific Century now unfolding.

Observation 3 is Solvency:

US democracy assistance nullifies extremist influence and enables dialogue towards reform—mere endorsement is insufficient. A reformed Bahrain is best for US hegemony, and the US is key.

Aziz & Musalem 11

(Sahar, legal fellow at Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, associate prof. law at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, served as senior policy advisor at Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at US Department of Homeland Security, and Abdullah, degrees in sociology, Middle Eastern language and cultures, social researcher in Bahrain, July, Citizens, not Subjects: Debunking the Sectarian Narrative of Bahrain’s Pro-Democracy Movement, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding Report, http://ispu.org/pdfs/640_ISPU%20Report_Bahrain_Aziz_Musalem_WEB.pdf)

The Saudi monarchy watched in… the United States’ national interest.