Where is the National University Debate Championship held?

The National University Debate Championship is held in the city of Surabaya, IDN.

What is the eligibility level for participants in the NUDC?

The NUDC is open to college-level participants.

National University Debate Championship (NUDC) 2026

May 13, 2026Surabaya, IndonesiaIn-person

The National University Debate Championship (NUDC) is a significant event for college students in IDN, hosted in the city of Surabaya. This championship provides a platform for young minds to hone their public speaking, critical thinking, and argumentation skills. Participants engage in structured debates, addressing a range of contemporary issues, thereby fostering intellectual growth and preparing them for future leadership roles. The NUDC emphasizes the development of articulate and well-informed individuals, crucial for national progress. The competition's format encourages rigorous research, logical reasoning, and persuasive communication, all vital components of effective diplomacy and policy-making. The event is a testament to the commitment to academic excellence within IDN's higher education system.

Committees & topics

Topics
Reaffirming the Global Commitment to Eliminating Anti-Personnel Landmines · Prohibiting Drone Strikes Against Civilians and Non-Combatant Targets in Armed Conflict · Reducing Global Trade Tensions and Reaffirming Commitments to Lower Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers · Mitigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Technological Change on Workers · Reaffirming International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict · Ending the Criminalization of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Developed Countries · Strengthening International Commitments to Halt Nuclear Proliferation · Establishing a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

Why it matters

The NUDC plays a crucial role in cultivating a generation of informed and articulate leaders within IDN. By engaging in competitive debate, college students develop essential skills such as critical analysis, evidence-based argumentation, and effective communication. These competencies are not only valuable for academic success but are also indispensable for navigating complex societal challenges and contributing meaningfully to public discourse.

Furthermore, the championship serves as a vital arena for intellectual exchange, bringing together students from diverse backgrounds and institutions across IDN. This interaction fosters a broader understanding of national issues and encourages collaborative problem-solving. The rigorous demands of the competition push participants to delve deeply into various topics, promoting a nuanced understanding of different perspectives and strengthening their capacity for informed decision-making.

The NUDC's focus on developing persuasive communication skills is particularly relevant in an increasingly interconnected world. The ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and to advocate for positions effectively is a cornerstone of diplomacy and international relations. By nurturing these abilities at the college level, the NUDC contributes to building a cadre of future professionals capable of representing IDN's interests on a global stage and engaging in constructive dialogue.

How to prepare

Participants in the NUDC should focus on developing a robust understanding of current national and international affairs. Effective debate requires not only a strong grasp of facts but also the ability to synthesize information and construct compelling arguments. Students should engage in extensive research, drawing from reputable sources to support their claims and anticipate counter-arguments.

Beyond content knowledge, mastering the art of persuasive delivery is paramount. This includes practicing clear articulation, managing speaking pace, and employing effective rhetorical strategies. Understanding the nuances of debate formats and rules is also critical for success. Participants should engage in mock debates and seek feedback to refine their performance and adapt to different argumentative styles.

Developing strong teamwork and strategic thinking is also essential, as debate often involves collaborative preparation and in-round tactical adjustments. Understanding the concept of "engagement strategies" can be particularly beneficial for anticipating opponents' arguments and crafting effective rebuttals. Additionally, exploring "dynamic analysis" can help debaters to adapt their arguments in real-time based on the flow of the debate, ensuring their positions remain relevant and impactful.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Indonesia

Host and primary beneficiary of the National University Debate Championship, focusing on youth development and intellectual discourse.

Role in topic

IDN hosts the NUDC in Surabaya, providing a national platform for its college students to develop critical thinking, public speaking, and argumentation skills. This initiative reflects IDN's commitment to fostering academic excellence and preparing its youth for future leadership roles within the country and potentially on the international stage.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Reaffirming the Global Commitment to Eliminating Anti-Personnel Landmines

Anti-personnel landmines emerged as a mass-casualty weapon in 20th-century conflicts, leaving a legacy of contamination that continues to kill and maim civilians decades after wars end. International revulsion at the toll on rural populations, particularly in Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, and Afghanistan, catalyzed the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, known as the Ottawa Treaty. The treaty now has more than 160 states parties and has driven the destruction of tens of millions of stockpiled mines, mine clearance across vast tracts of land, and improved victim assistance. Despite these gains, several major military powers, including the United States, Russia, China, India, and Pakistan, have not joined the convention, and non-state armed groups continue to deploy improvised mines in conflicts from Myanmar to the Sahel. The full-scale war in Ukraine has produced some of the heaviest mine contamination in the world, and in 2024-2025 several states in Europe's east signaled possible withdrawal from or non-compliance with Ottawa obligations citing security concerns. Landmine Monitor data show casualty figures rising again after years of decline. The debate today centers on how to reverse this backsliding: pressuring holdout states toward accession, sustaining funding for demining and survivor assistance, addressing improvised mines used by non-state actors, and preventing erosion of the norm by states parties under wartime pressure.

Key players

Prohibiting Drone Strikes Against Civilians and Non-Combatant Targets in Armed Conflict

Armed drones moved from a niche US counterterrorism tool in the 2000s to a mainstream battlefield weapon used by dozens of states and several non-state armed groups. Turkish Bayraktar TB2s in Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine, Iranian Shahed loitering munitions in Ukraine and the Red Sea, Israeli systems in Gaza and Lebanon, and US strikes across the Middle East and the Sahel have made unmanned systems central to contemporary conflict. Their lower political cost, persistent surveillance, and standoff range have lowered thresholds for the use of force. International humanitarian law already binds drone operations: the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution apply regardless of the weapon platform. Yet investigations by the UN, ICRC, and human rights organizations have documented repeated civilian harm from drone strikes on weddings, residential buildings, hospitals, humanitarian convoys, and journalists. Concerns range from flawed target identification and signature strikes to the use of cheap, mass-produced drones by non-state groups, and the opacity of targeting decisions assisted by algorithmic systems. The contemporary debate is whether to negotiate a dedicated instrument or political declaration clarifying drone-specific rules, strengthening transparency on targeting and civilian casualties, restricting transfers to actors with poor IHL records, and addressing the role of AI-enabled targeting. States diverge sharply on whether existing law is sufficient or whether a normative gap requires new commitments.

Key players

Reducing Global Trade Tensions and Reaffirming Commitments to Lower Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers

The post-1945 liberal trading order, anchored in GATT and then the WTO from 1995, drove sustained reductions in tariffs and supported decades of global growth. From the mid-2010s, however, the system has come under sustained strain. The collapse of the Doha Round, paralysis of the WTO Appellate Body since 2019, the US-China tariff war initiated in 2018, and the COVID-19 shock combined to normalize unilateral trade measures. Industrial policy, export controls on semiconductors and critical minerals, and subsidy races on green technology have further blurred the line between economic and national security policy. More recently, sweeping new US tariffs, Chinese countermeasures, EU carbon border adjustments, and a proliferation of non-tariff barriers — sanitary rules, local-content requirements, data localization, and screening of foreign investment — have produced what the IMF and WTO describe as accelerating geoeconomic fragmentation. Developing countries warn that they bear disproportionate costs from supply-chain reshoring and from compliance burdens of environmental and labor-linked trade measures. The debate now is how to restore predictability: reviving WTO dispute settlement, disciplining the use of national-security exceptions, agreeing rules on industrial subsidies, ensuring that climate-related trade measures do not become disguised protectionism, and giving developing economies meaningful policy space.

Key players

Mitigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Technological Change on Workers

Successive waves of automation — from industrial robotics to digital platforms — have reshaped labor markets for decades, but the rapid diffusion of generative AI since 2022 has accelerated concerns about scale and speed. IMF and ILO analyses estimate that around 40 percent of jobs globally, and up to 60 percent in advanced economies, are exposed to AI, with cognitive and white-collar roles now in scope alongside routine manual work. At the same time, platform and gig work has expanded rapidly, often outside traditional labor protections, raising issues of algorithmic management, surveillance, and precarious income. Responses have been uneven. The EU adopted the AI Act in 2024 and a Platform Work Directive addressing algorithmic management; the United States has relied on executive orders and sectoral guidance; China has issued rules on recommendation algorithms and generative AI. The ILO has advanced a decent-work agenda for the digital economy, while UNESCO's 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of AI provides a normative baseline. Yet most developing economies lack the regulatory capacity, social protection systems, or reskilling infrastructure to absorb large displacement shocks, and global tax and data rules remain unsettled. The core debate is how to combine the productivity gains of AI with protections for workers: minimum standards for algorithmic management and platform work, investment in lifelong learning, strengthened social protection floors, support for collective bargaining in digital sectors, and international cooperation on data, AI governance, and just-transition financing.

Key players

Reaffirming International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict

International humanitarian law, codified principally in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, sets out rules to protect those not taking part in hostilities — civilians, the wounded, prisoners of war, medical personnel, and humanitarian workers — and to limit the means and methods of warfare. It is reinforced by customary IHL, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and specialized treaties on specific weapons. Compliance has always been imperfect, but recent years have seen a marked rise in documented violations. Conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, the Sahel, and Yemen have featured large-scale civilian casualties, attacks on hospitals and schools, sieges and starvation tactics, and record numbers of aid worker deaths — the UN recorded the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel in 2024. Medical facilities have been struck repeatedly despite their protected status, and journalists have been killed at unprecedented rates. Impunity is a recurring theme: arrest warrants from the ICC have been issued against senior officials of several states and armed groups, while major powers have at times rejected the court's jurisdiction. The debate centers on how to reinforce compliance without renegotiating settled law: strengthening accountability mechanisms, protecting humanitarian and medical missions, ensuring sustained humanitarian access, addressing siege warfare and starvation as a method of war, and pushing states and non-state armed groups to translate IHL obligations into concrete operational practice.

Key players

Ending the Criminalization of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Developed Countries

The legal architecture protecting refugees and migrants is anchored in the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, and the 2018 Global Compacts on Refugees and on Migration. These instruments enshrine non-refoulement, the right to seek asylum, and prohibitions on arbitrary detention. In practice, however, many high-income destination states have increasingly relied on criminal-law tools — irregular-entry offenses, mandatory detention, criminalization of search and rescue, and pushbacks at land and sea borders — to manage mixed migration flows. The US southern border, the Mediterranean and Channel routes into Europe, Australia's offshore processing regime, and the UK's now-revised Rwanda scheme have all been challenged by UN human-rights bodies, the UNHCR, and regional courts. Externalization arrangements with transit states, expanded use of safe-country lists, and restrictions on humanitarian visas have narrowed access to asylum, while smugglers fill the resulting gap and migrant deaths along key routes remain at record levels. Civil-society actors providing rescue, shelter, or legal aid have themselves faced prosecution in several jurisdictions. Delegates will weigh how to align domestic enforcement with international obligations: decriminalizing irregular entry and humanitarian assistance, expanding regular pathways, strengthening reception and refugee status determination, ensuring judicial oversight of detention and removals, and improving burden-sharing with the developing countries that host the large majority of the world's refugees.

Key players

Strengthening International Commitments to Halt Nuclear Proliferation

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), in force since 1970 and with near-universal membership, rests on three pillars: non-proliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and disarmament. It is supported by IAEA safeguards, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (not yet in force), regional nuclear-weapon-free zones, and instruments such as the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Together these have constrained the number of nuclear-armed states to nine and prevented the worst proliferation scenarios of the Cold War era. The regime is now under significant pressure. The 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) effectively collapsed after the US withdrawal in 2018 and subsequent Iranian enrichment to near-weapons-grade levels. North Korea has continued nuclear and missile testing and codified a more aggressive doctrine. Russia suspended its participation in New START in 2023, leaving the last major US-Russia arms-control treaty in limbo before its 2026 expiry, while China is rapidly expanding its arsenal. The 2022 NPT Review Conference failed to adopt a final document, and disarmament obligations under Article VI face growing skepticism from non-nuclear-weapon states. The debate focuses on how to reinforce the NPT bargain: securing a successful 2026 Review Conference, sustaining IAEA safeguards and verification, advancing CTBT entry into force, negotiating successor arrangements to New START, addressing the DPRK and Iran files, and bridging the gap between nuclear-armed states and TPNW supporters.

Key players

Establishing a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

Nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZs) covering Latin America (Tlatelolco), the South Pacific (Rarotonga), Southeast Asia (Bangkok), Africa (Pelindaba), and Central Asia (Semipalatinsk) now cover the entire Southern Hemisphere and parts of the North. A Middle East zone has been on the UN agenda since a 1974 Iran-Egypt initiative, was reaffirmed in the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference resolution as a condition for the treaty's indefinite extension, and has been the subject of an annual UN-convened Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction since 2019. Progress has been blocked by deep regional asymmetries and mistrust. Israel is widely assessed to possess nuclear weapons but maintains a policy of opacity and is not an NPT party; Iran is an NPT party but its nuclear program, particularly enrichment levels and IAEA cooperation, has generated sustained proliferation concern; Arab states have pressed for a zone covering all WMD with Israeli participation. The collapse of the JCPOA, regional wars including the Gaza conflict and Israeli-Iranian exchanges, and the broader erosion of arms-control frameworks have made conditions for negotiation more difficult. Delegates will consider confidence-building measures, the sequencing of disarmament and regional security guarantees, the relationship between an MENWFZ and existing NPT and IAEA obligations, verification arrangements, and how lessons from other regional zones — and proposals for zones in Northeast Asia, the Arctic, and Central Europe — might inform a credible path forward.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for National University Debate Championship (NUDC) 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

China's New Strategy for Taiwan and Japan

Japan's Dilemma Over Hormuz Mine Clearance

North Korea's Nuclear Navy Ambitions

Nabha Security Incident Exposes Punjab Issues

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Conflict Resolution

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Frequently asked questions

Free account

Save conferences, research any topic with AI, build position papers, and keep your daily prep streak — free.

Create free account

Already a member? Log in

National University Debate Championship (NUDC) 2026

May 13, 2026Surabaya, IndonesiaIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Reaffirming the Global Commitment to Eliminating Anti-Personnel Landmines · Prohibiting Drone Strikes Against Civilians and Non-Combatant Targets in Armed Conflict · Reducing Global Trade Tensions and Reaffirming Commitments to Lower Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers · Mitigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Technological Change on Workers · Reaffirming International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict · Ending the Criminalization of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Developed Countries · Strengthening International Commitments to Halt Nuclear Proliferation · Establishing a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Indonesia

Host and primary beneficiary of the National University Debate Championship, focusing on youth development and intellectual discourse.

Role in topic

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Reaffirming the Global Commitment to Eliminating Anti-Personnel Landmines

Key players

Prohibiting Drone Strikes Against Civilians and Non-Combatant Targets in Armed Conflict

Key players

Reducing Global Trade Tensions and Reaffirming Commitments to Lower Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers

Key players

Mitigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Technological Change on Workers

Key players

Reaffirming International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict

Key players

Ending the Criminalization of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Developed Countries

Key players

Strengthening International Commitments to Halt Nuclear Proliferation

Key players

Establishing a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for National University Debate Championship (NUDC) 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

China's New Strategy for Taiwan and Japan

Japan's Dilemma Over Hormuz Mine Clearance

North Korea's Nuclear Navy Ambitions

Nabha Security Incident Exposes Punjab Issues

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Conflict Resolution

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Indonesia College May 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

Free account

Save conferences, research any topic with AI, build position papers, and keep your daily prep streak — free.

Create free account

Already a member? Log in

National University Debate Championship (NUDC) 2026

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Reaffirming the Global Commitment to Eliminating Anti-Personnel Landmines

Prohibiting Drone Strikes Against Civilians and Non-Combatant Targets in Armed Conflict

Reducing Global Trade Tensions and Reaffirming Commitments to Lower Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers

Mitigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Technological Change on Workers

Reaffirming International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict

Ending the Criminalization of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Developed Countries

Strengthening International Commitments to Halt Nuclear Proliferation

Establishing a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

Resources

Frequently asked questions

National University Debate Championship (NUDC) 2026

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Reaffirming the Global Commitment to Eliminating Anti-Personnel Landmines

Prohibiting Drone Strikes Against Civilians and Non-Combatant Targets in Armed Conflict

Reducing Global Trade Tensions and Reaffirming Commitments to Lower Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers

Mitigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Technological Change on Workers

Reaffirming International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflict

Ending the Criminalization of Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers in Developed Countries

Strengthening International Commitments to Halt Nuclear Proliferation

Establishing a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East

Resources

St. Augustine’s Cup Interdepartmental Debate Series 2026 (Semi-Finals)

Lomba Debat Indonesia (LDI) Kabupaten Bangka Selatan 2026

Lomba Debat Indonesia (LDI) 2026 tingkat SMA/MA se-Kabupaten Paser

National University Debating Championship (NUDC) 2026

Frequently asked questions

St. Augustine’s Cup Interdepartmental Debate Series 2026 (Semi-Finals)

Lomba Debat Indonesia (LDI) Kabupaten Bangka Selatan 2026

Lomba Debat Indonesia (LDI) 2026 tingkat SMA/MA se-Kabupaten Paser

National University Debating Championship (NUDC) 2026

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

St. Augustine’s Cup Interdepartmental Debate Series 2026 (Semi-Finals)

Lomba Debat Indonesia (LDI) Kabupaten Bangka Selatan 2026

Lomba Debat Indonesia (LDI) 2026 tingkat SMA/MA se-Kabupaten Paser

National University Debating Championship (NUDC) 2026

Frequently asked questions

Related conferences

St. Augustine’s Cup Interdepartmental Debate Series 2026 (Semi-Finals)

Lomba Debat Indonesia (LDI) Kabupaten Bangka Selatan 2026

Lomba Debat Indonesia (LDI) 2026 tingkat SMA/MA se-Kabupaten Paser

National University Debating Championship (NUDC) 2026