10 young orators, 8 countries and 2 teams gathered in Athens, the very birthplace of Democracy, to debate the motion “Democracy is dead”.
Organised by Ian Sielecki, president of the Transatlantic Debating Championship, The Great Debate took place during the fourth day of the New York Times Democracy Forum, at the University of Athens.
Debaters from former editions of the FDA tournament have been selected to either oppose or defend democracy in front of a prestigious audience and a jury composed of some of the World's most influential democratic leaders and thinkers, such as Nobel Prize Laureate, Paul Krugman or the President of the International New York Times. Jury members as well as the audience, after hearing pertinent arguments from both sides, agreed that democracy is indeed still alive.
Ihssane Zaadoud, Supaero, FDA semi-finalist, 2016