This week, three teams of student debaters from the US have come to London to take part in Debating Matters Transatlantic (DMTA). They’ll be joined by three teams from the UK in a unique cultural and political exchange that will allow everyone taking part to enjoy high-quality debating on some of the biggest issues of our time.
The first DMTA Championship took place in March 2025. Three American teams and three British teams competed online. The standard of debate was impressive, but Ideas Matter in the UK and the Bill of Rights Institute in the US have always wanted to take the programme to the next level by getting teams to meet face to face. That ambition has now been realised, in partnership with the Andrew Carnegie Foundation.
The Championship itself takes place on Saturday 14 November, and the teams will be debating a wide range of motions. Debaters have had the opportunity to use four new or newly revised Debating Matters topic guides to kick off their research, giving them a substantial and challenging starting point to inspire their thinking.
The debate on ‘Social media should be banned for under-16s’ will be enlightening for everyone, with the arguments being thrashed out by students who were only recently under 16 themselves, bringing real-world experiences in a way that adults debating the same issue might miss.
‘NATO is vital for global security’ is a hot topic on both sides of the Atlantic. While a certain scepticism about the outsized role of the US in NATO is not new in either America or Europe, the current Trump administration has brought matters to a head.
The third motion, ‘Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) present more benefits to society than risks of harm’, allows us to examine a genuinely pivotal moment that goes way beyond technology. AI is likely to bring enormous changes – but, on balance, will they be for better or worse? And for these young people, coming into the world of work when AI is very much the norm, can they see the benefits – or do they feel threatened by its efficiency?
The winners of the two groups will meet in the final to debate ‘Protecting free speech is more important than preventing hate’, raising a wide range of philosophical and practical questions. This is, perhaps, the most vital question facing both America and the UK today – and sharing the different experiences from both sides of the Atlantic will be fascinating. If you would like to attend the final debate, at 3pm on Saturday, please email geoff@ideasmatter.org.uk.
But there will also be plenty of opportunity for the six teams of students to soak up the culture and politics of London, too. There will be visits to Westminster Abbey and the Imperial War Museum, a walking tour of Westminster, and a chance to visit the Houses of Parliament in the company of Baroness Claire Fox.
Students will also take part in a Battle of Ideas festival satellite debate on Friday evening where the panel is made up of adult experts and commentators, asking ‘Are the UK and US living up to or betraying their founding ideals?’. From Magna Carta to the Declaration of Independence, and a Bill of Rights in England (1689) and America (1791), it has seemed like the trajectory of both societies was for greater openness and freedom. But on both sides of the pond, that has been called into question in recent years.
And, of course, American and British students will have plenty of time to meet, talk and get to know each other, hopefully establishing some lifelong friendships along the way.
The old adage that ‘travel broadens the mind’ is as true today as ever. Travel plus debate is even better.
Emma Gilland is event coordinator at Ideas Matter.
What a brilliant initiative!