Tournament: Neregional | Round: 5 | Opponent: Bard College Cooper-Kaplitt | Judge: Glass
1AC

Inherency

Executive war making power is a temptation which no individual can handle

Madison, 1793 (Letters of Helvidius; James Madison was a founding father and coauthor of the Federalist Papers.)

Plan Text: Resolved, Congress should restrict the executive’s war powers by passing legislation 

prohibiting the utilization of the armed forces in hostilities without a formal declaration of war.

Syria Advantage

Obama’s Going to Intervene in Syria, Sooner rather than later

Miller, 6/13 (The Problem from Hell, ForeingPolicy.com Aaron David Miller is vice president 

for new initiatives and a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. His 

forthcoming book is titled Can America Have Another Great Century? http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/

2013/06/11/obama_s_new_problem_from_hell_syria_intervention)

CNN, 9/3/13 (Syria War resolution faces tough challenges in Congress; www.cnn.com/

2013/09/03/politics/obama-syria-congress/index.html)

Chem weapons agreement is ineffective and precipitates invasion

Chivers, 9/13 (“Chemical Disarmament Hard Even in Peacetime” C.J. Chivers is the 

NYTimes expert on conflict. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/world/middleeast/Syria-ChemicalDisarmament.html?pagewanted=alland_r=0)

Invasion causes sectarian violence to spillover

Ditz, 13 (“Syria’s Neighbors Fear US War Would Mean Spillover Violence” Jason Ditz is news editor at 

Antiwar.com, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the cause of non-interventionism. His work has appeared in 

Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times and Detroit Free Press. 

http://news.antiwar.com/2013/04/28/syrias-neighbors-fear-us-war-would-mean-spillover-violence/)

Invasion will aid the rebels, who are terrorists

Hubbard, 13 (“Islamist Rebels Create Dilemma on Syria Policy” Ben Hubbard is a Middle East 

correspondent for the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/world/middleeast/islamistrebels-gains-in-syria-create-dilemma-for-us.html?pagewanted=all)

And these terrorists will attack US and Israel w/ Chemical Weapons

Riedel, 13 (“Jahbat al-Nusra is Growing Menace to Mideast and Beyond.” Bruce Riedel 

is the director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institution. http://www.almonitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/jabhat-al-nusra-jihadist-al-qaeda-syria.html)

Smart Power Advantage

Hegemony is dead—only a smart power approach can solve world problems

Nathan Gardels, journalist and Senior Fellow at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, former executive 

director of the Institute for National Strategy, degree in Theory and Comparative Politics; and Mike 

Medavoy. 2009. (American Idol After Iraq: Competing for Hearts and Minds in the Global Media Age, 

Realist vs. Idealist debate is dead; Smart Power requires a rational assessment of both 

Nye,11 (Joseph Nye, The Future of Power, He’s one of the most prominent IR theorists 

The office of the president has created an irresistible and irrational pull towards war 

Irons, 05 (“War Powers: How the Imperial Presidency Hijacked the Constitution”, Peter 

Irons is a professor of political science at the University of California-San Diego)

Congress is the only institution which can make rational judgments concerning the 

costs of war vs. national interest and values

Friedman, 83 (“Waging War Against Checks and Balances-The Claim of an Unlimited 

War Power” From the St. John’s Law Review, p.256-257)

Increased use of US smart power is key to solving the international economy, drug 

Nye, 06 (Joseph S. Nye Jr. -  Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Kennedy School 

of Government at Harvard University, co-founder of neoliberalist theory in IR, former Deputy to the 

Undersecretary of State for Security Assistance, Science, and Technology, former chair of the National Security 

Council Group on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, former chair of  the National Intelligence Council, and 

former chair of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, “Hard Power, Soft Power, 

and the Future of Transatlantic Relations,” edited by Thomas L. Ilgen – Professor of political studies at Pitzer 

CMR Advantage

Congress has abdicated its responsibility for war; has destroyed civil military relations

Farley, 10 (“Over the Horizons: Warning Signs in U.S. Civil Military Relations”, World 

Politics Review, Dr. Robert Farley is an assistant professor at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and 

International Commerce at the University of Kentucky. ttp://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/6774/

over-the-horizon-warning-signs-in-u-s-civil-military-relations)

Congressional authority for declaring wars will mend CMR gap

Eikenberry, 13 (“Americans and their Military, Drifting Apart.” Nytimes.com Karl 

Eikenberry is a retired 3-star general and former ambassador to Afghanistan. Also an 

US CMR modeled abroad; improves global democracy

Perry, 96  (William, former secretary of defense, Federal News Service, 5/13, lexis)

Global democracy prevents global harms

Diamond 1995 - Hoover Institute Senior Fellow (Larry, “Promoting Democracy in the 

1990s,” http://wwics.si.edu/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/di/fr.htm) 

Solvency

Declaration of war will place significant constraints on president’s ability to initiate 

Gelb and Slaughter, 05(“Declare War”, TheAtlantic.com, Leslie H. Gelb is the president 

emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. Anne-Marie Slaughter is the dean of the Woodrow 

Wilson School of International and Public Affairs.)

Congress is the natural home of decisions concerning war

Fisher, 04 (from ‘Presidential War Power)

Shifting power to congress is a feasible solution to executive overreach (Also answers 

Healy, 2008 (Gene Healy is a contributor to the Cato Handbook for Policymakers and 

the author of The Cult of the Presidency)