Resolved: The United States ought to promote democracy in the Middle East.

I will be refuting the CON's points first and then address and strengthen my own case. CON starts off by stating the the US and Saudi relations will be damaged if we promote democracy. We must realize that current relations with the Saudis are shaky already (http://www.goupstate.com...). Promoting democracy is the least we can do to help stabilize and strengthen relations with the Saudis. The United States ought to help out those suffering under oppression from the current Saudi rule. This is our liberalistic obligation to help out the women and girls in Saudi Arabia who are being restricted our their civil liberties. CON also states that current relations with the Sauds help fight terrorism. We can see that democracy more effectively fight terrorism. The World Food Prize reported in 2015 that poverty, which largely occurs in dictatorships, directly causes terrorism. Democracy provides opportunity free from restriction and provides them with civil liberties to succeed. As a historical example, the American Revolution (sorry to say it) fights the definition of terrorism, which the New Oxford American Dictionary reports as the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. The Sons of Liberty fought for civil liberties under democracy, as said in the saying "NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION." The people wanted to be represented, which is what democracy provides. After the Sons of Liberty were provided civil liberties under democracy, the terrorism ended. CON continues by stating the Russia will be opposed to our promotion of democracy. This point is not directly related to the Middle East, but even beyond that CON shows no link. They bring up the economic sanctions by the United States, which are not related to Middle Eastern democracy, but rather the forcefully annexation of Crimea by the Russians. Yes, the Russians are mad about the economic sanctions, but that is not because of democracy promotion, nor Middle Eastern relations. CON fails to prove the link. Furthermore, the resolution clearly states that we are to "promote democracy", not require it or overthrow pro-Russian groups currently in the government. We simply ought to support democracy. Now I will move on to CON's CounterPlan, which states that the US should focus on democracy promotion in stable countries. I will show you how this fails in two main ways. First, this doesn't fix problem. As stated in the CX, the Middle East isn't stable. The point of democracy promotion is to establish stability and fix what the Middle East is struggling with now. It is worthless to promote democracy in the stable nations, like the UK and Canada, when we should be using this stability-providing tool in the regions that need it, not those who don't. We must stabilize the Middle East, and democracy promotion does just that. It provides citizens with civil liberties to have political say, civil rights, and economic freedom. A democratic government provides freer government, freer people, and freer markets. Second, it fails to further Middle Eastern civil liberties or our liberalistic obligation. The governments in the Middle East have failed to provide the due rights to their people. Thus, it is our obligation as a democratic society to intervene in a liberalistic way and address the issues. This will provide the essential civil liberties to the people of the Middle East. CONs CP does not address this as it tells the US to stay out of the Middle East. This will only allow the violations of human rights and civil liberties to continue. The CP continues to deny the millions of Middle Easterners the civil liberties and human rights that they deserve. Now moving on to the PRO side of today's debate which states the United States ought to promote democracy in the Middle East. The wording of this resolution is crucial as it shows the CON side cannot just state facts or pragmatic logic, but must confront the moral and philosophical obligations underlying this, as the resolution states "OUGHT". CON has failed to argue the implications behind the resolution and instead has focused on this at a pragmatic and not a philosophical level. As I stated before contention 1 is that the US promoting democracy will allow for civil liberties to be furthered in the Middle East. Democracy provides the people with freedom and liberties that they deserve in a just society. For instance women in many Middle Eastern countries are discriminated against. Promoting democracy and civil liberties is the just thing for the United States to do. Contention 2 is that promoting democracy is the liberalistic obligation of the United States. Governments in the Middle East have and will continue to oppress the people and discriminate against women unless we intervene and the solve the issue, as my Criterion of Liberalism does. The US is a democratic nation that guarantees freedoms to all men. At the very least, the United States has the obligation to promote their ideology of equality, democracy, and freedom around the world. This has no harms as we are simply reaffirming our position that we are pro-democracy, pro-equality, and pro-freedom. IN SUMMARY: ---Saudi Relations are already shaky. Promoting Democracy will strengthen relations and better combat radical terrorist ideologies. ---Russia is not relevant in today's debate about democracy in the Middle East, and the CON fails to show a link between democracy promoting and Russian aggression. ---The CONs CP is invalid since we need to stabilize the Middle East by promoting democracy, not focusing on the already stable, democratic countries; furthermore, the CONs CP fails to meet our liberalistic obligation to better civil liberties in the Middle East. ---CON must prove that we "ought" not, or prove that there is no obligation or duty for the US to stabilize and promote democracy in the Middle East. ---PROs Contention 1: The US promoting democracy will allow for civil liberties to be furthered in the Middle East. ---PROs Contention 2: Promoting democracy is the liberalistic obligation of the United States.