The Sylvan Covid-19 geopolitics debate considered the following motion:
This house believes the pandemic will accelerate the decline of America as the global superpower.
The debate took place on Monday, 1st June 2020. Mike Douse proposed the motion and Gokul Ganga-Nair opposed it.
The proposition supporting the view that the pandemic will accelerate the decline of America
The proposer railed against America’s culture and militaristic approach, as embodied by the current President Trump. He argued that the US was always losing its preeminence, in particular because through modern communication, the world is able to see the shortcomings of American society, including racism, corruption, gun violence, inequality etc. While China will surpass the US economically, he argued that the emergence of China is not the point of the debate. He characterised Trump as the ‘insecure captain of a losing side’ and the feeling towards America as one of pity. Neither the US nor China will come out well from the pandemic.
The opposition against the motion
The opposer invoked John F Kennedy’s space race and the recent successful launch of the SpaceX commercial rocket, illustrating the inspirational nature of America for many across the world. He defined superpower status and scenarios for what could replace that of the US, and accepted that that would be inevitable, but would be a matter of timing. He took an in-depth look at the economies of the US and China, and argued that increased US debt levels would continue to be inexpensive to finance. The US military will continue to be the most powerful. He strongly argued that while it is easy to attack Trump, the US democracy is much bigger than one person, and suggested that authoritarian regimes will eventually fail. The people of America will continue to make the country strong.
Floor speeches took a number of different perspectives on the issue, ranging from admiration of the US to downright disgust. The prospect of a US economic recovery was discussed, with differing viewpoints. A number of speakers addressed the motion and whether the pandemic is actually an acceleration (an increase in speed) of the decline, with a number agreeing it would, and others arguing it was too early to tell.
Result: in the final vote, the Covid-19 geopolitics debate motion carried
The Sylvans concluded through the Covid-19 geopolitics debate that the pandemic will accelerate the decline of America as the global superpower.
See information on other Sylvan debates here.