The Munk Debates, Volume 1
Language: English
Pages: 167
ISBN: 2:00144660
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The Munk Debates is Canada’s premier international debate series, a highly anticipated cultural event and feast of ideas. Launched in 2008 by philanthropists Peter and Melanie Munk, these debates bring together some of the world’s greatest thinkers to discuss the most pressing political, social, and cultural issues that are shaping the course of world events.
This volume includes the first five debates in the series:
British historian and bestselling author Niall Ferguson, top-ranking American diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, and human rights scholar and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Samantha Power discuss global security and the 2008 U.S. presidential election
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, former Foreign Minister of the Australian Parliament and President and Chief Executive of the International Crisis Group Gareth Evans, actor and humanitarian Mia Farrow, and former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces General Rick Hillier debate the pros and cons of humanitarian intervention
Professor of Economics Paul Collier, economist Hernando De Soto, former UN Secretary-General Stephen Lewis, and bestselling author of Dead Aid Dambisa Moyo explore the opportunities and hazards of foreign aid
Former British politician and bestselling author Lord Nigel Lawson, adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School and bestselling author Bjørn Lomborg, environmental activist and Leader of the Green Party of Canada Elizabeth May, and journalist and bestselling author George Monbiot tackle one of the great public policy questions of our time: how should the world respond to climate change?
Governor Howard Dean, President and CEO of University Health Network (UHN) Dr. Robert Bell, Professor of Business and Medicine Dr. William Frist, and physician and award-winning author Dr. David Gratzer cover the controversial issue of health care.
Intelligent, informative, and entertaining, The Munk Debates is a lively forum of ideas and opinions that aims to reinvigorate public discourse and civic dialogue, and captures the prevailing moods, clashing opinions, and most imperative issues of our time.
Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life
Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work
Absent Citizens: Disability Politics and Policy in Canada
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
forbidding the entry of food aid, resulting in the starvation of its citizens. What are your criteria for intervention? NIALL FERGUSON: John McCain was recently asked the same question by Matt Bai from the New York Times Magazine, and he gave, I thought, a very thoughtful reply. He made it clear that the United States could not randomly or universally intervene in humanitarian catastrophes because of the crucial need to have the support of the American electorate for action taken involving
insurance. The number one factor determining how long you live is behaviour. Unfortunately, in the United States we have more homicides, and more accidents; behaviour such as smoking and obesity is more common across the board. Number two is genetics. There’s more heterogeneity there. If you factor in behaviour and if you factor in genetics, and you actually correct for those, people live longer in the United States of America than in Canada. So beware of the statistics. ROBERT BELL: I
accidents. That has nothing to do with the health care system. When you do a comparison of life expectancies you discover that life expectancy is longer in the United States than in any other country. Here’s the point: life expectancy is a very crude statistic. That’s why I don’t use it. That’s why I look at disease outcomes. That’s why I think they are a better standard. HOWARD DEAN: I think there is a lot of selective use of information here and so, even though I don’t happen to agree
morally justifiable. We have none of those. If I get sick in the United States, I think I’m going to get pretty good health care. And if you get sick in Canada, you have pretty good health care. The question you have to decide is whether you are going to be one of the 35 percent that can’t afford it in the United States or whether you’re going to be guaranteed of having that health care. And what you are essentially buying in this country is the notion that no matter what happens to you,
