A Minor Musing About The NSDA 2016 Proposed Rome Statute Resolution

Resolved: The United States ought to become party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The one rates a meh.

The Rome Statute gives the court jurisdiction over "the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole": "The crime of genocide; Crimes against humanity; War crimes; The crime of aggression."

The US's refusal to sign is apparently based on worries that "the Rome Statute created a seriously flawed institution that lacks prudent safeguards against political manipulation, possesses sweeping authority without accountability to the U.N. Security Council, and violates national sovereignty by claiming jurisdiction over the nationals and military personnel of non-party states in some circumstances."

Without adding the words "Federal Government" after "United States" in the resolution, this wording creates a policy resolution. The federal government will ratify the treaty that makes the US a party to the Rome Statute.

Affs will have plenty of ground. Extreme nihilists excepted, crimes against humanity have little support.

The negs will likely respond with an LD version of a DA. Policy debate having appropriated nuclear war and extinction scenarios, negs will likely argue that ratification means the US will be "headed for a disaster of biblical proportions. . . .Old Testament. . . real wrath of God type stuff. . . .Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!. . . Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...The dead rising from the grave!. . .Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"

On a more serious note, this topic has a lot of nuance that may be difficult to develop in 13 minutes of speaking time.