In religious arbitration, both sides in a civil dispute agree to let a religious tribunal, instead of a civil court, decide their case. These tribunals usually deal with issues like marriage, family matters, or contracts, and only apply to people who follow that religion. Their decisions are legally binding.

Across Africa, many elites "outsource their ambitions to outsiders." In practice, this refers to African government officials and civil society leaders deferring to external actors (e.g., major allies and development institutions) to set policy targets across sectors including health, education, infrastructure, poverty reduction, and climate change response.

Since January 2025, a huge area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) housing more than five million people has been conquered and occupied by Rwanda and the M23 rebel group. The M23 claims that it seeks to counter Hutu extremist groups that perpetrated the Rwandan genocide and then took refuge in eastern Congo. However, UN and Rwanda’s various donor states have long dismissed these justifications.

When selecting a national eSports team to compete in international sporting events, there are two ways for a country to do this. The "Champion Model" takes the winning team of the national tournament in that game (e.g. Arena of Valor, PUBG, Valorant, etc.) to represent the country.

The "Tryout Model" will host a selection among individual players to select the best ones to form the national team, creating a blend of players coming from different eSports teams from different owning companies.

Freestyle Chess randomizes starting piece positions to reduce memorized openings and boost creativity. In 2025, Magnus Carlsen (considered greatest chess player of present times) launched a private Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. The tour struggles to attract participants, as it is not an officially recognised championship title. 

FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) is the internationally recognised governing body for chess, organizing tournaments and setting rules. Presently, FIDE struggles with inconsistent sponsorships and audiences losing interest in their events.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) initially banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competition in 2022. In December 2023, the IOC announced that athletes from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics under a neutral flag (e.g., not the flag of Russia). Eligibility is limited to those without ties to the military and who have not publicly supported the war.

For this debate, individualism refers to a framework emphasizing personal autonomy, self-reliance, and individual goal attainment, while collectivism refers to a framework prioritizing group cohesion, shared responsibilities, and community interests above those of the individual.

For this debate, "neediness" refers to the persistent, excessive seeking of attention, validation, and reassurance from others.

Across Africa, many elites "outsource their ambitions to outsiders." In practice, this refers to African government officials and civil society leaders deferring to external actors (e.g., major allies and development institutions) to set policy targets across sectors including health, education, infrastructure, poverty reduction, and climate change response.

Since January 2025, a huge area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) housing more than five million people has been conquered and occupied by Rwanda and the M23 rebel group. The M23 claims that it seeks to counter Hutu extremist groups that perpetrated the Rwandan genocide and then took refuge in eastern Congo. However, UN and Rwanda’s various donor states have long dismissed these justifications.

When selecting a national eSports team to compete in international sporting events, there are two ways for a country to do this. The "Champion Model" takes the winning team of the national tournament in that game (e.g. Arena of Valor, PUBG, Valorant, etc.) to represent the country.

The "Tryout Model" will host a selection among individual players to select the best ones to form the national team, creating a blend of players coming from different eSports teams from different owning companies.

Freestyle Chess randomizes starting piece positions to reduce memorized openings and boost creativity. In 2025, Magnus Carlsen (considered greatest chess player of present times) launched a private Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. The tour struggles to attract participants, as it is not an officially recognised championship title. 

FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) is the internationally recognised governing body for chess, organizing tournaments and setting rules. Presently, FIDE struggles with inconsistent sponsorships and audiences losing interest in their events.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) initially banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competition in 2022. In December 2023, the IOC announced that athletes from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics under a neutral flag (e.g., not the flag of Russia). Eligibility is limited to those without ties to the military and who have not publicly supported the war.

"The Headband of Knowledge is a machine that estimates the social benefit or harm of any proposed policy for each individual in society. It operates without bias toward a person's identity (e.g. class, race, gender, or social status) and is limited to domestic use, i.e. only one machine may be used per country. 

The Headband aggregates data and calculates the total pain/happiness generated per citizen per policy option. Each Headband can only be operated by the country’s head of state."

For the purpose of this debate, the "Die With Zero" philosophy refers to the idea that individuals should aim to use up all their wealth before they die as opposed to saving up wealth until past their death.

For the purposes of this debate, "European military independence" is defined as the ability of European nations to coordinate and execute complex defence and security operations without reliance on the United States for military resources, strategic guidance, operational support, or security guarantees.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and prosecutes significant issues such as aggression, war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. It takes on cases from member states that are unwilling or unable to prosecute individuals responsible for these crimes.

"The Geneva Conventions are a series of international treaties that aim to protect individuals during armed conflict. They establish rules regarding the treatment of combatants, civilians, and those who are wounded or sick, ensuring they receive humane treatment and protection.

Sunset clauses are clauses in contractual agreements that specify an expiry date for the agreement. Ahead of the expiry date, agreements can be renewed, renegotiated, or, if the involved parties prefer, terminated."

In bottom-up unionism, strike decisions and contract acceptances are decided by referendums involving union members.

On the other hand, representative unionism refers to a philosophy of union organization which emphasizes the election of leaders through a ballot process. In this model, union leaders negotiate on behalf of unions and decide on strike activity.

Industrial unions organize workers across an entire industry. For example, United Steelworkers (USW) represents steelworkers across the U.S.

Enterprise unions organize workers within a single company. For example, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) represents employees at multiple Starbucks locations.

Social movement unionism is a model of union organization where leaders dedicate time and resources to appealing to the general public to advance workers' rights (e.g. public protests, petitions and grassroots campaigns to mobilize public support). On the other hand, traditional unionism refers to a model of union organizations where unions pressure employers primarily through strike action.

A non-compete agreement is a contract that stops employees from working for rival companies for a set time after leaving their job. Restrictions on employees from bringing over clients or coworkers from their previous company are not included within the scope of non-compete agreements.

Elon Musk is the CEO of multiple tech firms including Tesla, X (formerly known as Twitter) and SpaceX. He was also one of Donald Trump’s closest political allies in the lead up to, and directly after, the 2024 presidential elections. Recently, he stepped down from his position as the head of the Department of Governmental Efficiency, and his relationship with Trump has soured due to his strong opposition to Trump’s restrictive tariff policy and stringent immigration restrictions.

"A tiered-use system is a business model where users access a basic version of the platform for free, while paying for more advanced features, premium tools, or enhanced access. Examples of platforms using this model include ChatGPT, YouTube, and Spotify.

A flat-use system, by contrast, provides the same features to all users without a distinction in access. An example is the current system of DeepSeek."

For the purpose of this debate, to "peg" means to tie or fix one thing directly to another so they move together, but are not necessarily equal. For example, a salary pegged to the median wage could be a multiple of the median wage.

In 2024, France became the first country in the world to give the right to abortion in the constitution. The Rassemblement National (RN) is a nationalist right-wing political party in France that has historically held conservative views on abortion.

Fertility-extending treatments refer to medical interventions, such as hormonal therapies or surgical procedures, that aim to prolong or restore a woman’s ability to conceive beyond the typical reproductive age or to delay menopause.

Declining cities are cities with significant decline in industrial activity as well as high rates of outward migration in the past 5 years. 

Production processes refer to the extraction, manufacturing and assembly processes to produce goods.

Independent contractors are individuals who engage in short-term, flexible, freelance work instead of permanent, full-time employment. Examples of companies that currently hire independent contrators are Uber, Meituan, Didi, MyCar, etc. These companies are commonly referred to as part of the 'gig economy'.

"Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are when a foreign company buys or combines with an existing local firm.

In comparison, a greenfield investment is a type of foreign direct investment where a foreign company starts a new business operation in a foreign country from scratch."

Until 2022, the Philippines restricted foreign ownership in the renewable energy sector to a 40 per cent cap. This was revised in 2022 to allow full foreign ownership and extends to exploration, development, and utilization of the country’s renewable energy resources.

Liquefied natural gas is a fossil fuel primarily composed of methane, which is cooled to liquid form for ease of storage and transport. Compared to coal and oil, LNG produces less carbon dioxide and air pollutants when burned.

On the other hand, renewable energy refers to sources like solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass. They do not emit carbon during energy generation.

Antitrust policies are restrictions placed on activities that businesses can conduct with the aim of preventing monopolies.

Green antitrust refers to antitrust policies that aim to increase the competitiveness of energy and environment companies as compared to carbon-intensive counterparts by setting stricter antitrust requirements on carbon-intensive firms (e.g. prevention of price fixing).

A “golden visa” allows individuals to obtain temporary or permanent residency in a country in exchange for a sizable investment through buying property, creating a company, or making a substantial donation.

Several local governments in Italy have offered to sell vacant and abandoned houses for the price of 1 euro. While the Italian government provides tax benefits for people who opt into this purchase, individuals are expected to plan for redevelopment of the house within a year and bear the all costs for the same.

Montessori education is a child-centric approach that emphasizes independence, self-directed learning, and hands-on activities. There are no tests or fixed curriculum milestones for an entire class, but rather students are encouraged to learn at their own pace with teachers acting as facilitators.

For the purposes of the debate, competency certification in AI refers to qualification verifying a teacher’s ability to teach using AI tools effectively. Examples include teachers using AI to make presentations, checking answers in exams, and marking essay answers using AI.

"No Child Left Behind" policies hold schools accountable for student performance. Under these policies, penalties are imposed on schools that fail to meet academic benchmarks in standardized tests or which have significant numbers of student absences. Penalties often include a reduction in funding, forced restructuring, or other corrective actions.