SKFTA will pass now – Key legislation in place but Obama’s action is necessary
Dayen 9/23 (David, “Senate Passes Trade Adjustment Assistance, Setting Up “Free” Trade Agreements,” http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/09/23/senate-passes-trade-adjustment-assistance-setting-up-free-trade-agreements/)
Speaking of Congress, they may be getting themselves … where some of these trade dollars would flow (South Korea).

Plan costs political capital—budget constraints make it unpopular
Cadei 11
Emily, staff writer, Congressional Quarterly, 3/3/11, Democracy funding may be squeezed, http://origin-www.congress.org/news/2011/03/03/democracy_funding_may_be_squeezed
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., a member of the Armed Services Committee… continue to only focus on discretionary spending, which is junior varsity-type activity.” 

Failure to ratify SKFTA kills the US-ROK Alliance
Yonhap News 8/30
Severe damage to alliance expected if FTA fails: CRS, http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/08/30/52/0301000000AEN20110830000400315F.HTML
A collapse in the United States of a free trade pact … many of whom would likely see it as a betrayal."

Alliance key to stop South Korean proliferation
Hughes 2007
Christopher W., PhD University of Sheffield, 1997, Reader/Associate Professor, University of Warwick. “North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons: Implications for the Nuclear Ambitions of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan,” January, Asia Policy No 3, http://www.nbr.org/publications/asia_policy/AP3/AP3Hughes.pdf
South Korea’s history of considering its nuclear … thus enabling the reaffirmation of U.S. security guarantees.54

Escalates to global nuclear war
Cirincione 2000
Joseph, Director of the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Foreign Policy, “The Asian Nuclear Reaction Chain”, JStor
The blocks would fall quickest and hardest in Asia, …the first combat use of a nuclear weapon since 1945.  

Text: The European Union will: 

The EU has pre-existing channels for effective, equal-partner democracy aid
Tocci and Cassarino ‘11
Nathalie Tocci is Deputy Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome. Jean-Pierre Cassarino is parttime professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, and scientific advisor at the Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome “Rethinking the EU’s Mediterranean Policies Post-1/11” IAI WORKING PAPERS 11 | 06 – March 2011 www.iai.it/pdf/DocIAI/iaiwp1106.pdf, AD 9/13/11
The Arab revolts do not call for Europe to reinvent the wheel. …the private sectors and the civil societies of the neighbouring countries too.

Arab countries prefer Europe to the US
Lowder '11
J. Bryan Slate "Europhilia" 4/1/11, http://www.slate.com/id/2290156/, AD 9/13/11
Certainly. Since 9/11, a number of surveys conducted by … In the United States, that number was 13 percent.

*Cred Net-ben*

The EU must alter its policy towards to the Arab world regain credibility – the EU’s reaction will be the litmus test for its credibility as an international actor – must increase democracy assistance not bilateral engagement.
Lecha and Viilup ‘11
Eduard Soler i Lecha, is a Research Fellow in Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, and Elina Viilup, is a Research Fellow in Barcelona Centre for International Affairs. “European Neighbourhood Policy Review: the forgotten East”. June 26, 2011. http://www.easternpartnership.org/community/debate/european-neighbourhood-policy-review-forgotten-east
The Joint Communication from the Commission and the EEAS on “… be created among the plethora of the new and old instruments. 

EU Middle Eastern credibility allows it to relaunch peace talks and deepen regional influence
Fakhro ‘09
E. A. Master of Law Student in International Human Rights Law at Harvard Law School and LLM from Queen Mary College, University of London “The European Union and Islam: Democracy Promotion in Bahrain and the Arab World,” International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2009 www.idea.int/resources/analysis/upload/Fakhro_low_2.pdf, AD 9/13/11
At the policymaking level, the EU could see its credibility and influence in… of decades of failed US policies in the Gulf.

Israel-Palestinian war triggers nuclear escalation
Nawash 09
Kamal, founder of the Free Muslim Coalition angainst Terrorism, regular contributor to CNN, VOA, "Israel/Palestine Conflict May Lead to Nuclear War," The Muslim Observer, 1/15/09, http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=3501 AD 9/15/11
Once again the Palestinian/Israeli conflict spirals out of control. …The answer is YES but time is running out.

Saudi Relations on the brink now - U.S. action on Arab spring can make or break the relationship
Lobe 9/14 Jim
BA History magna cum lade, JD Berkley, served as Washington D.C. correspondent and chief of the Washington , bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS), an international news agency In addition to IPS, Jim has written for a number of internet publications, including Al Jazeera English, Alternet, TomPaine.com, Foreign Policy in Focus, RightWeb, The American Prospect, the Asia Times, and the Daily Star of Beirut IPS news  9/14/11 Agreeing on Less and Less http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105103

Accumulating strains between the United States and Saudi Arabia … relations with the Muslim world, empower Iran and threaten regional security".

Interference in Bahrain kills US-Saudi relations
Shaikh 11
Salman Shaikh is Director of the Brookings Institution's Doha Center and Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Shaikh previously served as the Special Assistant for the Middle East and Asia to the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and as an adviser to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Foreign Policy “The Bahrain crisis and its regional dangers,” 3/23/11, http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/23/the_bahrain_crisis_and_its_regional_dangers, AD 7/18/11

The Bahrain crisis is also showing the limits of … a political solution can halt Bahrain's slide to civil war and avert a greater regional fallout.

Low relations spark Saudi to proliferate
Al-Rashid 11
Salman N. Al Rashid, Pursuing Masters Degree from Georgetown in security studies, “The Kingdom and Nuclear Energy: The Proliferation Contingency”  http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/04/14/what_next_after_king_abdullah

Matt Reed presents a compelling case for American-Saudi … decision-makers will likely incorporate the conventional wisdom about nuclear states into its thinking about Iran. 

Saudi prolif leads to fast regional prolif
Center for Contemporary Conflict 4  
(“Conference on WMD Proliferation in the Middle East: Directions and Policy Options in the New Century” http://www.ciaonet.org/olj/si/si_3_8/si_3_8_ruj01.pdf)

James Russell from the Naval Postgraduate School presented …“Are Saudi nuclear noises used as a means to ensure U.S. engagement?

Proliferation in the Middle East causes nuclear war - multiple points of escalation
Cirincione in 7
[Joseph and Andrew Grotto, Center for American Progress, “Contain and Engage: A New Strategy for Resolving the Nuclear Crisis with Iran,” March 2007. Available from the World Wide Web at: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/02/iran_report.html]

Iran’s regional rivals are likely to pursue … ethnic conflicts unresolved, this is a recipe for nuclear war.

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The Millennium Challenge Corporation should substantially expand development compact grants to include _____ Tunisia. One of the conditions for MCC money should be anticorruption. The United States federal government should not provide democracy assistance.

The counterplan competes – political conditionality through the MCC is distinct from democracy assistance through USAID

Stahn & van Hüllen 7 - *Research Associate @ Free Univ in Berlin, **Research Associate in Politcal Science @ Free Univ in Berlin

Andreas Stahn, Research Associate for the Collaborative Research Project @ Free University Berlin, and Vera van Hüllen, Research Associate for the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science @ Free University Berlin. Paper prepared for the European Union Studies Association (EUSA), Tenth Biennial International Conference, May 17-19, 2007, Montreal, Canada, pg. http://aei.pitt.edu/7911/1/hullen-v-03e.pdf

The governmental agency of most importance with regard

AND

of the US universe of governmental democracy promotion.

First – avoids politics

Dobransky 11 – PhD Candidate @ Kent State

Steve, “The Coming Crisis in US Foreign Aid Policy,” http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2011/0104/comm/dobransky_coming.html

The arguments against eliminating the MCC stress the

AND

years and then see what it has done.

Second – the case – the counterplan solves and the plan doesn’t

CDDRL 8

Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, “REORGANIZING U.S. GOVERNMENT DEMOCRACY PROMOTION EFFORTS” http://iis-db.stanford.edu/res/2329/Reorganizing.pdf

Expand the MCC, even if at the

AND

likelihood that aid with reach its intended target.

Third – MCA Leadership –

US foreign aid model is at a crossroads

Dobransky 11 – PhD Candidate @ Kent State

Steve, “The Coming Crisis in US Foreign Aid Policy,” http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2011/0104/comm/dobransky_coming.html

The U.S. now …f U.S. foreign aid.

Expanding the MCC’s economic responsibilities sends a signal of a broader commitment to MCC

Rieffel and Fox 8

Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Global Economy @ Brookings, **Former Chief Economist @ USAID, Economic Consultant @ Brookings

Lex and James, “THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT,” Brookings, http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/bitstreams/14966.pdf

While it seems to fl y in the …relative freedom from statutory constraints, a better approach would be to build on the MCC.

That’s key to economic freedom and global growth

Yohannes 11 - *CEO of the MCC

Daniel, “Investing in Development: On the Road to Better Aid, MCC is Paving the Way,” http://www.mcc.gov/pages/press/speech/speech-011311-investingindevelopment

In December 2009, I was …delighted to bring the lessons of our model to bear on our nation’s evolving global development policy.

This creates a back-stop that prevents global conflict

Gwartney 5 - *Professor of Economics @ FSU

James, et. al. “Economic Freedom of the World: 2005 Annual Report,” CATO Publications

Economic freedom is almost …is not a statistically significant predictor of conflict.

Text: The United States federal government shall advocate through the United Nations Democracy Fund Advisory Council that the United Nations Development Fund should …

The United States federal government should advise the head of the United Nations Development Fund mission to contact the United States for information concerning best practices in providing assistance generated through United States experience in the field. The United States will meet its ongoing commitments to provide non-earmarked funds and expertise to the United Nations Democracy Fund.

The Counterplan is essential to reverse perceptions of U.S. false multilateralism and boost the legitimacy of the U.N.

Deen ‘10

Thalif Dean. “U.N. Faces Threat of Irrelevancy Amid Big Power Politics”. Inter Press Service. September 28, 2011. http://www.galdu.org/web/index.php?odas=4772&giella1=eng

Judging by remarks on opening day, there AND S.-controlled false multilateralism, Bennis declared.

The Arab Spring is a key test of sustained U.S. engagement with the U.N. – that’s key to multilateralism and solving multiple scenarios for extinction.

Brimmer ‘11

Esther Brimmer, assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs. “A Misguided Assault”. 9/15/2011. http://www.humanrights.gov/2011/09/15/a-misguided-assault-why-the-united-nations-matters/

Glancing at the agenda of the upcoming General AND those who would not act in our interests.

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Iraq is now facing a crisis and is on the brink of a civil war

MSNBC 1-5-12

New wave of blasts raises …boil over into renewed sectarian conflict between the two Muslim factions.

The plan trades off with NEA focus

AllGov 09

The Bureau of Near Eastern … weapons of mass destruction, and political and economic reform.

Diplomatic resources are finite – pushing new democracy assistance forces a trade-off
Kelemen 11

NPR, Michele, A former NPR Moscow bureau chief. She worked eight years working for the Voice of America. Michele Kelemen now covers the State Department and Washington's diplomatic corps., Kelemen has been traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from Asia to the Middle East and Europe, tracking the Obama administration's broad foreign policy agenda, Hillary Clinton: U.S. Diplomacy Is Stretched Thin,

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says …very wisely where we intervene and what we do."

Only full focus by State Department will stave off war now

Kagan and Kagan 1/2

(2012, Frederick and Kimberly “Is Iraq Lost?”, , Kimberly Kagan is president of the Institute for the Study of War. Frederick W. Kagan is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and director of AEI’s Critical Threats Project, THE WEEKLEY STANDARD)       

The reemergence of civil war in …the White House and the State Department.

Iraqi civil war escalates to world war three

Ferguson 6

(Ferguson, Niall., professor of history @ Harvard, and sr. fellow @ the Hoover Institution, "The Next War of the World." Foreign Affairs 85.5 (Sept-Oct 2006): 61. Expanded Academic ASAP.)

WHAT MAKES the escalatin

civil war in Iraq so disturbing is that it has ... Middle Eastern conflagration would be truly global.

And it will go nuclear

Goes nuclear

MacWhirter 7

(Iain, September 10, pg. http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/featuresopinon/display.var.1675757.0.0.php)

But there's worse. Once we have left Iraq, ... in the Middle East all the more likely.