Feb. PF Topic Analysis II - "Interests of the U.S."

Eat your vegetables!  Go to bed on time!

When you're young your parents tell you these things because they're looking out for you.  A parent who didn't care how much soda you drank or what time you went to bed would be considered a pretty awful parent.  Even when people age, the concept of what's good for you isn't necessarily what you want to do is still very much alive.  Find time to work out!  Avoid fast-food!  Don't tell that person what you really think of them!  The things that are in our best interests often run contrary to our desires.  Doing those things that would be beneficial to us often require discipline and self-restraint.  We work out not because we enjoy making time for it, getting sweaty and waking up sore the next morning, but because we see the long-term value in the activity benefiting our interests - namely the interest of health.  We restrain ourselves from telling off certain people because it benefits our professional relationship and helps us develop tact.  The point is that good health, positive professional relationships and diplomacy are worth the sacrifice.

So when we're trying to asses whether the rise of China is beneficial to the interests of the U.S., it's important for the PRO to remember that what is good for someone (or some country) may not always be what is immediately preferable.  There are several different ways to measure the interests of the U.S. There are 3 which should really be looked at for this debate:

Economic
No country wants high national debt, inflation and a high unemployment rate, but the U.S. economy has suffered from these maladies.  China owns a little over a $1 debt of our $15 trillion debt.  In looking at how our economy is related to China's check out the trade deficit and how China manipulates its currency to keep its products cheap.

National Security
It's hard to separate The War on Terror from our National Security interests, but it's important to remember that we have other issues to deal with outside of terrorism.  China isn't endorsing or supporting Al-Qaeda but there are a couple of areas that merit attention.  One would be China's partnership with Iran.  Another would be China's expansion into Africa.

Foreign Affairs
Our global influence has been tarnished lately with the ascension of China the and downgrading of our credit rating.  It's no secret to the rest of the world that the U.S. was one of the first dominoes to fall in the global recession.  Our authority and sheer hegemony has been suspect with the inconclusive results of the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the surging of militant Islam in Libya, Mali, Algeria and Egypt.  The bottom line is that U.S. is no longer viewed as the world's "Superman."  We've recently proven to be vulnerable abroad and have made some foreign policy blunders.

These are some VERY broad-strokes.  That means these are some VERY general areas to explore, this is not an exhaustive list of areas to utilize.  It's very likely that at Hastings and Olle the main PF competition will be internal; our teams against our teams.  So the more you diversify your case with solid arguments, the better prepared you'll be.  And your judges will appreciate hearing some different arguments.