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IE Debate Club Vs. Royal Artillery Academy

After the successful first debate between IE Debate Club and The Royal Artillery Academy last November, the continuation finally arrived. On the 4th of April 2019, IE hosted a second debate between both institutions on, whether or not the Trump administration has had a positive influence for the USA and the world.

IE Debate Club were defending the claim whilst the Royal Artillery Academy contested it in the prestigious refectory at 6:00pm.

“The purpose of this debate is about building a tradition between IE University and the Artillery Academy, to foster the shared values between both respected Institutions” said Oussama Chninak, 2nd year student at IE, and co-organiser of the event.

“It’s a win-win relationship because…we get to know the military world…and the IE university [perspective].” said Francisco Peñas, Cadet at the Royal Artillery Academy.

“This event is all about cooperation between two institutions and enhancing our friendship with these incredible people who study a few metres away from us.” said Georgy Aroniya, 2nd year PLE student.

When asked to comment on the debate’s quality, C. Peñas claimed, “it was a good experience having this discussion with [an] interesting topic…but, I think there’s always room for improvement.”

Mr Aroniya then went on to add, “[t]he debate went really well, both teams presented incredible arguments. It was a good interchange of opinions…and I hope that the university will support it in the future as well.”

Key developments:

Miguel Larrañaga, Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs at IE university, opened the debate with a few remarks stressing the importance of debating as a social skill, as well as emphasizing the relationship between both institutions.

The floor was then yielded to Col. Jose Maria Martinez Ferrer, director of the Royal Artillery Academy, who proceeded to affirm the necessity for debate, particularly for individuals belonging to similar minded groups, as he concluded, “not everyone thinks like us”.

Following the opening remarks, the floor was then yielded to the debate’s moderator, Farah Zakri, who outlined its subsequent structure and introduced the teams.

The two teams were composed of five people each. On the Debate Club’s side were Enrique Araque, Ghita El Hachmi, María Ramos, Jason Yeager, and Georgy Aroniya. On the opposing side were Cadets Peñas, Morales, Selles, Solá, and Dieguez.

The ensuing debate covered a wide array of topics, focusing particularly on the following elements:

  • The Paris Climate Agreement

  • US Economy

  • NATO

  • North Korea

  • China-US Trade War

  • EU Army

After a series of arguments and rebuttals, the floor was opened to questions from the audience, followed by closing statements from both teams surmising the bulk of the debate’s key conclusions.

Miguel Larrañaga then attempted to distil the essence of debate into his closing remarks wherein he claimed, “there is nothing in history [that is] black or white…we need to find the grey zones”.

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