Griffiths - The Munk Debates: Volume One

THE
MUNK
DEBATES

volume one

INTRODUCTION BY
PETER MUNK

EDITED BY
RUDYARD GRIFFITHS

Copyright 2010 Aurea Foundation
Introduction copyright 2010 Peter Munk

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
The Munk debates / edited by Rudyard Griffiths.
ISBN 978-0-88784-285-6 (ePub)
1. Munk debates. I. Griffiths, Rudyard
AS42.M86M86 2010 081 C2010-902472-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010932493

Cover design: Bill Douglas

We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing program the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.

INTRODUCTION BY PETER MUNK

Since we started the Munk Debates, my wife Melanie and I have been deeply gratified at how quickly they have captured the publics imagination. With our first event at the Royal Ontario Museum in May 2008, we have been able to host what I believe are some of the most exciting public policy debates in Canada; debates that have made a real contribution to the intellectual life of our nation. Global in focus, the Munk Debates have tackled a range of issues such as humanitarian intervention, the effectiveness of foreign aid, the threat of global warming, and the future of health care in Canada and the United States. In the debate transcripts, the reader will have the opportunity to reflect and in a sense hear first-hand from some of the keenest minds of our time, debating issues that affect us all. Where else would you have a hard-hitting debate on U.S. foreign policy with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Samantha Power taking on Charles Krauthammer and Niall Ferguson? Or hear stimulating arguments about the obligations of rich nations to the developing world, whether in the form of foreign aid or humanitarian intervention, by pitting speakers such as Ambassador John Bolton, General Rick Hillier, Dambisa Moyo, and Hernando de Soto against Paul Collier, Stephen Lewis, Mia Farrow, and Gareth Evans?

Let me say a few words about why we started this program and why we believe so strongly in holding the Munk Debates in Toronto. There are many charitable foundations and worthy causes in Canada. It is part of our national tradition to support public and private charitable initiatives. They form the backbone of Canadas civic life. As a Canadian who wasnt born in this country, a country that has accepted me with open arms and provided me with endless opportunities, I believe strongly that Canada must be a vital participant in world affairs. That was the primary reason that Melanie and I helped found the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, my alma mater. It was the same thinking that led my Aurea Foundation to launch the Munk Debates. We wanted to create a forum that attracts the best minds and debaters to address some of the most important international issues of our time, and make these debates available to the widest possible audience. And we wanted Toronto to be at the centre of this international dialogue to affirm Canadas growing role as a world economic, intellectual, and moral leader. Melanie and I are extremely gratified that the Munk Debates are making significant strides towards fulfilling the mission and spirit of our philanthropy.

The issues raised at the debates have not only fostered public awareness, they have helped make Canadians more involved and therefore less afraid of the concept of globalization. Its so easy to be inward-looking. Its so easy to be xenophobic. Its so easy to be nationalistic. The hard thing is to go into the unknown. Globalization, to the average Canadian, was an unknown idea. So these debates are meant to contribute to overcoming our fear of further engagement in the world. These debates are meant to help people feel more familiar with the issues, and more comfortable participating in the global dialogue about the issues and events that will shape Canadas future. It is essential today that we equip ourselves, and especially young Canadians, with the skills and knowledge to be vital participants in global affairs. Canada is increasingly a world leader, and we have to assume global responsibilities commensurate with our growing stature.

I dont need to tell you that there are many, many burning issues. Whether you talk about global warming or the plight of extreme poverty, whether you talk about genocide or whether you talk about our shaky global financial order, there are many, many critical issues that matter to people. And it seems to me, and to the Aurea Foundation board members, that the quality of the public dialogue on these critical issues diminishes in direct proportion to the importance, and the number, of these issues clamouring for our attention. By trying to highlight the most important issues at crucial moments in the global conversation, these debates not only profile the ideas and solutions of some of our brightest thinkers and doers, but crystallize public passion and knowledge, helping to tackle some global challenges confronting humankind. Just as important, they seek to make Canada the forum where Canadians and the international community can observe world-class thinkers engage each other on vital matters.

I learned in life and Im sure many of you will share this view that challenges bring out the best in us. I hope youll also agree that the participants in these debates challenge not only each other, but they challenge us to think clearly and logically about important problems facing the world.

Its easy to come up with ideas about holding debates on this scale. But unless you can execute them, ideas only call attention to what might have been. If this series of debates has succeeded, as a gratifying demand for tickets suggests it has, it is because our organizers, Rudyard Griffiths and Patrick Luciani, have been able to attract great minds and great debaters. We owe a debt of gratitude to them for helping to pull these extraordinary events together. I also want to thank the Aurea Foundation Board for their sage counsel and insights into topics and speakers for our debates. And finally, I want to thank all those who have come out to the live events in Toronto, or to watch them on university campuses across Canada and follow us online. Their enthusiasm validates the Aurea Foundations vision in launching the Munk Debates four years ago.

Peter Munk

Founder, the Aurea Foundation

Toronto, July 2010

GLOBAL SECURITY

Be it resolved the world is a safer place
with a Republican in the White House.

Pro: Niall Ferguson and Charles Krauthammer
Con: Richard Holbrooke and Samantha Power