Intelligence Squared US

Past Debates

  • Tuesday, May 8

    BAN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

    • For:

      Buzz Bissinger, Malcolm Gladwell

    • Against:

      Tim Green, Jason Whitlock

  • Tuesday, April 17

    WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS, THE INTERNET IS CLOSING OUR MINDS

    • For:

      Eli Pariser, Siva Vaidhyanathan

    • Against:

      Evgeny Morozov, Jacob Weisberg

  • Tuesday, March 13

    CHINA DOES CAPITALISM BETTER THAN AMERICA

    • For:

      Orville Schell, Peter Schiff

    • Against:

      Ian Bremmer, Minxin Pei

  • Tuesday, February 7

    OBESITY IS THE GOVERNMENT’S BUSINESS

    • For:

      Dr. Pamela Peeke, Dr. David Satcher

    • Against:

      Paul Campos, John Stossel

  • Tuesday, January 10

    THE U.N. SHOULD ADMIT PALESTINE AS A FULL MEMBER STATE

    • For:

      Mustafa Barghouthi, Daniel Levy

    • Against:

      Dore Gold, Aaron David Miller

  • Tuesday, November 15

    THE WORLD WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT RELIGION

    • For:

      Matthew Chapman, A.C. Grayling

    • Against:

      Dinesh D'Souza, Rabbi David Wolpe

  • Tuesday, October 25, 2011

    CONGRESS SHOULD PASS OBAMA’S JOBS PLAN—PIECE BY PIECE

    • For:

      Cecilia Rouse, Mark Zandi

    • Against:

      Richard Epstein, Daniel Mitchell

  • Wednesday, October 12, 2011

    TOO MANY KIDS GO TO COLLEGE:
    OUR FIRST DEBATE IN CHICAGO

    • For:

      Peter Thiel, Charles Murray

    • Against:

      Vivek Wadhwa, Henry Bienen

  • Tuesday, October 4, 2011

    GRANDMA’S BENEFITS IMPERIL JUNIOR’S FUTURE

    • For:

      Margaret Hoover, Mort Zuckerman

    • Against:

      Howard Dean, Jeff Madrick

  • Tuesday, September 20, 2011

    MEN ARE FINISHED

    • For:

      Dan Abrams, Hanna Rosin

    • Against:

      Christina Hoff Sommers, David Zinczenko

  • Wednesday, September 7, 2011

    IT’S TIME TO END THE WAR ON TERROR

    • For:

      Peter Bergen, Juliette Kayyem

    • Against:

      Richard Falkenrath, Michael Hayden

  • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2011

    FREEDOM OF THE PRESS DOES NOT EXTEND TO STATE SECRETS

    • For:

      Michael Chertoff, Gabriel Schoenfeld

    • Against:

      Alan Dershowitz, David Sanger

  • TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2011

    DON’T GIVE US YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES

    • For:

      Kris Kobach, Tom Tancredo

    • Against:

      Mayor Julián Castro, Tamar Jacoby

  • TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011

    IT’S TIME TO CLIP AMERICA’S GLOBAL WINGS

    • For:

      Peter Galbraith, Lawrence Korb

    • Against:

      Elliott Abrams, Eliot Cohen

  • TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2011

    CLEAN ENERGY CAN DRIVE AMERICA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY

    • For:

      Bill Ritter, Kassia Yanosek

    • Against:

      Robert Bryce, Steven Hayward

  • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2011

    THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM IS MAKING AMERICA UNGOVERNABLE

    • For:

      David Brooks, Arianna Huffington

    • Against:

      Zev Chafets, P.J. O'Rourke

  • TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2011

    REPEAL OBAMACARE

    • For:

      Douglas Holtz-Eakin, John Shadegg

    • Against:

      Jonathan Cohn, Paul Starr

  • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010

    U.S. AIRPORTS SHOULD USE RACIAL AND RELIGIOUS PROFILING

    • For:

      Robert Baer, Deroy Murdock, Asra Q. Nomani

    • Against:

      Hassan Abbas, Debra Burlingame, Michael Chertoff

  • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2010

    AFGHANISTAN IS A LOST CAUSE

    • For:

      Matthew Hoh, Nir Rosen

    • Against:

      Peter Bergen, Max Boot

  • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2010

    BIG GOVERNMENT IS STIFLING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT

    • For:

      Phil Gramm, Arthur Laffer

    • Against:

      Nouriel Roubini, Laura Tyson

  • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2010

    ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE

    • For:

      Zeba Khan, Maajid Nawaz

    • Against:

      Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Douglas Murray

  • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

    TREAT TERRORISTS LIKE ENEMY COMBATANTS, NOT CRIMINALS

    • For:

      Michael Hayden, Marc Thiessen

    • Against:

      David Frakt, Stephen Jones

  • TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2010

    THE CYBER WAR THREAT HAS BEEN GROSSLY EXAGGERATED

    • For:

      Marc Rotenberg, Bruce Schneier

    • Against:

      Mike McConnell, Jonathan Zittrain

  • TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2010

    OBAMA’S FOREIGN POLICY SPELLS AMERICA’S DECLINE

    • For:

      Dan Senor, Mort Zuckerman

    • Against:

      Wesley Clark, Bernard-Henri Lévy

  • TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010

    ORGANIC FOOD IS MARKETING HYPE

    • For:

      Dennis Avery, Blake Hurst, John Krebs

    • Against:

      Charles Benbrook, Urvashi Rangan, Jeffrey Steingarten

  • TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2010

    DON’T BLAME TEACHERS UNIONS FOR OUR FAILING SCHOOLS

    • For:

      Kate McLaughlin, Gary Smuts, Randi Weingarten

    • Against:

      Terry Moe, Rod Paige, Larry Sand

  • TUESDAY, FEB 9, 2010

    THE US SHOULD STEP BACK FROM ITS SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL

    • For:

      Roger Cohen, Rashid Khalidi

    • Against:

      Stuart Eizenstat, Itamar Rabinovich

  • TUESDAY, JAN 19, 2010

    CALIFORNIA IS THE FIRST FAILED STATE

    • For:

      Andreas Kluth, Bobby Shriver, Sharon Waxman

    • Against:

      Gray Davis, Van Jones, Lawrence O’Donnell

  • TUESDAY, DEC 1, 2009

    AMERICA IS TO BLAME FOR MEXICO’S DRUG WAR

    • For:

      Andrés Martinez, Jeffrey A. Miron, Fareed Zakaria

    • Against:

      Asa Hutchinson, Chris W. Cox, Jorge Castañeda

  • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2009

    OBAMA’S ECONOMIC POLICIES ARE WORKING EFFECTIVELY

    • For:

      Lawrence Mishel, Steve Rattner, Mark Zandi

    • Against:

      Eliot Spitzer, Allan H. Meltzer, James K. Galbraith

  • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009

    GOOD RIDDANCE TO MAINSTREAM MEDIA

    • For:

      John Hockenberry, Jim VandeHei, Michael Wolff

    • Against:

      Katrina vanden Heuvel, David Carr, Phil Bronstein

  • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2009

    AMERICA CANNOT AND WILL NOT SUCCEED IN AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN

    • For:

      Steven Clemons, Patrick Lang, Ralph Peters

    • Against:

      James Shinn, John Nagl, Steve Coll

  • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

    BUY AMERICAN/HIRE AMERICAN POLICIES WILL BACKFIRE

    • For:

      Jagdish Bhagwati, Douglas Irwin, Susan Schwab

    • Against:

      Jeff Madrick, John R. MacArthur, Leo Gerard

  • TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2009

    DIPLOMACY WITH IRAN IS GOING NOWHERE

    • For:

      Liz Cheney, Dan Senor

    • Against:

      Amb. Nicholas Burns, Kenneth Pollack

  • TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2009

    IT’S WRONG TO PAY FOR SEX

    • For:

      Melissa Farley, Catharine MacKinnon, Wendy Shalit

    • Against:

      Sydney Barrows, Tyler Cowen, Lionel Tiger

  • TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009

    BLAME WASHINGTON MORE THAN WALL STREET FOR THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

    • For:

      Niall Ferguson, John Steele Gordon, Nouriel Roubini

    • Against:

      Alex Berenson, Jim Chanos, Nell Minow

  • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009

    THE ART MARKET IS LESS ETHICAL THAN THE STOCK MARKET

    • For:

      Richard Feigen, Michael Hue-Williams, Adam Lindemann

    • Against:

      Amy Cappellazzo, Chuck Close, Jerry Saltz

  • TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2009

    MAJOR REDUCTIONS IN CARBON EMISSIONS ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY

    • For:

      Peter Huber, Bjorn Lomborg, Philip Stott

    • Against:

      L. Hunter Lovins, Oliver Tickell, Adam Werbach

  • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008

    BUSH 43 IS THE WORST PRESIDENT OF THE LAST 50 YEARS

    • For:

      Simon Jenkins, Jacob Weisberg

    • Against:

      William Kristol, Karl Rove

  • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008

    GOOGLE VIOLATES ITS DON’T BE EVIL MOTTO

    • For:

      Harry Lewis, Randal C. Picker, Siva Vaidhyanathan

    • Against:

      Esther Dyson, Jim Harper, Jeff Jarvis

  • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2008

    GUNS REDUCE CRIME

    • For:

      Stephen Halbrook, Gary Kleck, John R. Lott

    • Against:

      John J. Donohue, Paul Helmke, R. Gil Kerlikowske

  • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2008

    AMERICA IS FINALLY WINNING THE WAR IN IRAQ

    • For:

      Frederick W. Kagan, General Jack Keane (Ret.)

    • Against:

      Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Charles Ferguson

  • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

    UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE SHOULD BE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSIBILITY

    • For:

      Art Kellermann, Paul Krugman, Michael Rachlis

    • Against:

      Michael F. Cannon, Sally C. Pipes, John Stossel

  • TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008

    WE SHOULD LEGALIZE THE MARKET FOR HUMAN ORGANS

    • For:

      Lloyd R. Cohen, Amy L. Friedman, Sally Satel

    • Against:

      James F. Childress, Francis L. Delmonico, David Rothman

  • TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2008

    ISLAM IS DOMINATED BY RADICALS

    • For:

      Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Paul Marshall, Asra Q. Nomani

    • Against:

      Reza Aslan, Richard Bulliet, Edina Lekovic

  • TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2008

    TOUGH INTERROGATION OF TERROR SUSPECTS IS NECESSARY

    • For:

      Rick Francona, Heather Mac Donald, David Rivkin

    • Against:

      Jack Cloonan, John Hutson, Darius Rejali

  • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2008

    AMERICA SHOULD BE THE WORLD’S POLICEMAN

    • For:

      Max Boot, Michael Mandelbaum, Douglas Murray

    • Against:

      Ian Bremmer, Ellen Laipson, Matthew Parris

  • TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2008

    WE SHOULD ACCEPT PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS IN COMPETITIVE SPORTS

    • For:

      Radley Balko, Norman Fost, Julian Savulescu

    • Against:

      George Michael, Dale Murphy, Richard Pound

  • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2007

    AID TO AFRICA IS DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD

    • For:

      George Ayittey, William Easterly, David Rieff

    • Against:

      C. Payne Lucas, John McArthur, Gayle Smith

  • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2007

    IT’S TIME TO END AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

    • For:

      John H. McWhorter, Terence J. Pell, Joseph C. Phillips

    • Against:

      Khin Mai Aung, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, Tim Wise

  • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007

    RUSSIA IS BECOMING OUR ENEMY AGAIN

    • For:

      Claudia Rosett, Bret Stephens, J. Michael Waller

    • Against:

      Nina Khrushcheva, Robert Legvold, Mark Medish

  • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2007

    LET’S STOP WELCOMING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

    • For:

      Vernon M. Briggs Jr., Mark Krikorian, Heather Mac Donald

    • Against:

      Daniel T. Griswold, Enrique Morones, Karen K. Narasaki

  • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2007

    SPREADING DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS A BAD IDEA

    • For:

      Flynt Leverett, Dimitri K. Simes, Shibley Telhami

    • Against:

      Liz Cheney, Danielle Pletka, Natan Sharansky

  • WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2007

    BEWARE THE DRAGON: A BOOMING CHINA SPELLS TROUBLE FOR AMERICA

    • For:

      Bill Gertz, John J. Mearsheimer, Michael Pillsbury

    • Against:

      James McGregor, Daniel H. Rosen, J. Stapleton Roy

  • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2007

    BETTER MORE DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE THAN ANOTHER 9/11

    • For:

      David Frum, Andrew C. McCarthy, John Yoo

    • Against:

      Bob Barr, Jeffrey Rosen, Nadine Strossen

  • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2007

    GLOBAL WARMING IS NOT A CRISIS

    • For:

      Michael Crichton, Richard S. Lindzen, Philip Stott

    • Against:

      Brenda Ekwurzel, Gavin Schmidt, Richard C.J. Somerville

  • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

    AMERICA IS TOO DAMN RELIGIOUS

    • For:

      Susan Jacoby, Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Alan Wolfe

    • Against:

      Jean Bethke Elshtain, William A. Galston, Albert J. Raboteau

  • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2006

    HOLLYWOOD HAS FUELED ANTI-AMERICANISM ABROAD

    • For:

      James Hirsen, Roger Kimball, Joshua Muravchik

    • Against:

      Robin Bronk, Robert Greenwald, Richard Walter

  • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2006

    A DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED HAMAS IS STILL A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

    • For:

      Daniel Ayalon, Steven A. Cook, John O’Sullivan

    • Against:

      Stanley L. Cohen, Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Mark Perry

  • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2006

    FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION MUST INCLUDE THE LICENSE TO OFFEND

    • For:

      Philip Gourevitch, Christopher Hitchens, Signe Wilkinson

    • Against:

      David Cesarani, Daisy Khan, Mari Matsuda

  • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006

    WE MUST TOLERATE A NUCLEAR IRAN

    • For:

      George Perkovich, Karim Sadjadpour, Sanam Vakil

    • Against:

      Patrick Clawson, Reuel Marc Gerecht, William Kristol