Tournament: UIL State | Round: 1 | Opponent: Bellaire | Judge:
Contention 1: Solvency
The plan is key to US-Cuban energy cooperation---solves overall relations and regional stability. Failure to act allows other international actors to get involved.
Jonathan Benjamin-Alvadaro (PhD, Professor of Political Science at University of Nebraska at Omaha, Director of the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence Program at UNO, Treasurer of the American Political Science Association) 2010 “Cuba’s Energy Future: Strategic Approaches to Cooperation”)
Oil exploration is an inherently risky enterprise; there are …for the people of Cuba, it neighbors, and beyond.
Cuba will say yes to US ventures – they prefer US assistance due to technological lead. Plan is a catalyst to the normalization of US-Cuban relations and overall regional stability
Jonathan Benjamin-Alvadaro (PhD, Professor of Political Science at University of Nebraska at Omaha, Director of the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence Program at UNO, Treasurer of the American Political Science Association) 2006 “The Current Status and Future Prospects for Oil Exploration in Cuba: A Special Report for the Cuban Research Institute, Florida International University,” http://cri.fiu.edu/research/commissioned-reports/oil-cuba-alvarado.pdf)
Why is it important to …in this ¶ critical issue area across the region.
Thus our plan text, the United States federal government should remove the sanction that prevents the licensing of American oil companies to participate in the development of Cuba’s energy resources.
Contention 2: Chinese Influence
Now is the time to engage Cuba – recent Cuban economic reforms are on the brink, provide unique opportunity for engagement
Ted Piccone 3/18 (Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Foreign Policy) 2013 “Time to bet on Cuba”, http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2013/03/18-cuba-piccone
Cuba’s efforts to “update” its socialist system … that outstretched hand he so eloquently promised just four years ago.
As Cuba opens up the market for offshore drilling China will enter the market IF the US does not – plan key to open the US-Cuban oil market
Boston Globe 2/9 (“Cuba’s reforms pave way for new US policy, too”, 2013, http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2013/02/09/cuba-reform-create-opportunity-drag-policy-into-century/xER2NTTXGsxdLej0miHwFM/story.html)
Relations between the United States and Cuba have been … that the timing is ripe for a new diplomatic agenda with Cuba.
The plan critical for US influence in Latin America and prevents Chinese expansion
Jonathan Benjamin-Alvadaro (PhD, Professor of Political Science at University of Nebraska at Omaha, Director of the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence Program at UNO, Treasurer of the American Political Science Association) 2006 “The Current Status and Future Prospects for Oil Exploration in Cuba: A Special Report for the Cuban Research Institute, Florida International University,” http://cri.fiu.edu/research/commissioned-reports/oil-cuba-alvarado.pdf)
In the period since the announcement that it …-served the ¶ commercial interests of all parties involved.
US influence in the region key to crowd out China
Alan Dowd (Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation) 2012 “Crisis in the America's,” http://www.ascfusa.org/content_pages/view/crisisinamericas)
Focused on military operations in the Middle East, nuclear threats in Iran and North Korea, and the … must remain true in the 21st: There is room for only one great power in the Western Hemisphere.
Chinese stronghold in Latin America will trigger a nationalistic land grab for Taiwan
Robbie Fergusson (Researcher at Royal Society for the Arts, Former Conference and Research Assistant at Security Watch) 2012 “The Chinese Challenge to the Monroe Doctrine,” http://www.e-ir.info/2012/07/23/does-chinese-growth-in-latin-america-threaten-american-interests/)
Taiwan – domestic, or foreign policy?¶ China’s goals in the region … pressure to allow the PRC is to conclude a settlement on Taiwan, perhaps by force.
Taiwan crisis is likely in 2014---draws in the U.S.
Michael Mazza 1-3, research fellow in foreign and defense policy at the American Enterprise Institute, 1/3/13, “Four Surprises That Could Rock Asia in 2013,” http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/01/03/four_surprises_that_could_rock_asia_in_2012?page=full
Since President Ma Ying-jeou came to power in … -- could throw U.S.-China relations into a tailspin.
Taiwan escalates and goes nuclear – defense does not assume miscalculation
William Lowther 3-16, Taipei Times, citing a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 3/16/13, “Taiwan could spark nuclear war: report,” http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/16/2003557211
Taiwan is the most likely potential crisis … formidable nuclear weapons arsenals, such a conflict would be tremendously dangerous and quite possibly devastating.”
Contention 3: Environment
Offshore oil drilling in the Cuban Basin is inevitable – Without US technical expertise catastrophic oil spills are inevitable
Melissa Bert 12 (a military fellow (U.S. Coast Guard) at the Council on Foreign Relations) and Blake Clayton (fellow for energy and national security at the Council on Foreign Relations) “Addressing the Risk of a Cuban Oil Spill”, http://www.cfr.org/cuba/addressing-risk-cuban-oil-spill/p27515
The imminent drilling of Cuba's first offshore oil well raises the prospect of a … these precautions, the United States risks a second Deepwater Horizon, this time from Cuba.
Cuban oil spill will crush marine coastal life throughout Cuba, Florida coastlines, and the Gulf of Mexico – Unique coral reefs and mangroves will be destroyed
Emily A. Peterson¶ Daniel J. Whittle, J.D.¶ and Douglas N. Rader, Ph.D¶ December 2012 “Bridging the Gulf¶ Finding Common Ground on Environmental and ¶ Safety Preparedness for Offshore Oil and Gas in Cuba”, http://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/EDF-Bridging_the_Gulf-2012.pdf
If a spill were to occur in Cuban waters, marine and coastal resources … important habitats could lose their ability to support the fisheries and marine life that ¶ depend on them.
Collapse of the coral reef ecosystem collapses the biosphere
Robin Kundis Craig 03 (Associate Prof Law, Indiana U School Law)
Biodiversity and ecosystem function arguments for conserving …. kill ourselves, and we will take most of the biosphere with us.
Contention 4: The Cuban Economy
The plan solves Cuban dependence on Venezuela – key to economic and political reforms that will endure Cuban stability
Pinon 11 – Jorge R. Piñón is a visiting research fellow at the Latin American and Caribbean Center’s Cuban Research Institute at FIU. Spring 2011, "Why the United States and Cuba Collaborate (and What Could Happen If They Don't)"casgroup.fiu.edu/pages/docs/2157/1306356964_Hemisphere_Vol._20.pdf
If Cuba’s suspected but yet undiscovered … would benefit from the guidance of a variety of partners, including the United States.
Cuban instability collapse causes Latin American instability, creates terrorist hubs throughout the Caribbean, and causing a refugee crisis
Tim Gorrell (Lieutenant Colonel) 2005 “CUBA: THE NEXT UNANTICIPATED ANTICIPATED STRATEGIC CRISIS?” 3/18, http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA433074)
Regardless of the succession, … new approach to Cuba in an effort to facilitate a manageable transition to post-Castro Cuba?
Caribbean terrorism leads to attack on the US---they’ll use bioweapons
Anthony T. Bryan (director of the North-South Center’s Caribbean Program) 10-21-2001. CFR, Terrorism, Porous Borders, and Homeland Security: The Case for U.S.-Caribbean Cooperation, p.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/4844/terrorism_porous_borders_and20_homeland_20security.html)
Terrorist acts can …of biological weapons within national borders.