Students and professors from Georgetown Qatar (GU-Q) and Qatar University will team up for a public debate today at 6pm.
The topic of the debate, hosted by GU-Q at the Education City campus, will be ‘Rising Power of China’, with one team defending the claim that China’s rise to power will pose a serious challenge to US global dominance in the 21st Century, while the other team will be opposing the claim.
Debate moderator and Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) director Dr Mehran Kamrava said: “Debates present a time-honoured tradition of rivalry, where the battlefield is a podium, and the weapons are words.  While respect and politeness are always in play, the tension of each team’s effort to strategise a convincing argument on their assigned position on the topic of China’s hegemony, makes the debate format an engaging way to keep both our students, and members of the Doha community audience, informed about current events.”
Event organiser Robert Wirsing, who is also professor of International Relations at GU-Q, explained the importance of the chosen topic of the debate, saying: “There has been a shift to the East in the global balance of power. As a result,  America has seen a loss of its monopoly of global power in recent years. This is one of the most important developments in world politics, and it has a major impact on all regions of the world, the Middle East and the Gulf states among them. Our two teams will each be presenting their arguments in this political and economic context.”
The  ‘for’ team comprises Qatar University International Affairs department associate professor Dr Jackie Armijo and GU-Q Class of 2013 student Lubna Sharab. They face-off with the ‘against’ duo of GU-Q visiting assistant professor Dr Steven Ward and GU-Q Class of 2014 student David Daniel.
The debate is part of the Georgetown Connects series, a community outreach effort by the GU-Q, and is part of a multi-event programme, which will include lectures and discussions focused on the issues surrounding China today.
There will be an opportunity for audience involvement in the question and answer section of the event, which is open to the public.