GTW

Acronym for Global Thermonuclear War. A construct sometimes used in academic debate circles as a placeholder for an improbable (but not impossible) "worst case scenario." The term comes directly from the 1983 movie "Wargames," in which a young hacker went wardialing, tapped NORAD's central computer, and accidentally initiated a war simulation that almost started World War Three with the Soviet Union. Suspending disbelief temporarily, the concept for debaters is this: no man-made event could be worse than several major world powers choosing to initiate a nuclear exchange. Theoretically, such an exchange could kill most of the life on the planet's surface. Given that, if you can show that there is a chance, however small, that a given plan of action increases the likelihood of nuclear war, then that plan cannot be enacted, regardless of its benefits. This basic logic can be tailored to suit a given topic by exchanging GTW for a more appropriate worst case scenario. As a sidenote, while GTW may or may not really be a relevant consideration in some topics of debate, certain students relish finding inordinately convoluted paths by which, for example, domestic social policies could lead to the end of the world. Magnet schools? They'll breed more right-wing hawks, therefore GTW! National sales tax? They're regressive, will force folks to elect more neoconservative isolationists, therefore GTW! Take the kids out for pizza? Children are the future; childhood obesity is rising; more sickly children equal more health costs; subsequent failure of the current state health program will lead the masses to request socialist-style health policies, snowballing socialist reforms throughout society; the western free market cannot persist under heavy socialist governance; the West suffers an unprecedented depression; global depression leads to an increase in nationalism, while the new power vacuum draws petty tyrants toward the dream of hegemony; a new fascist state arises, and decides to start ethnic cleansing with a nuclear broom, therefore GTW -- all because someone didn't make Willy eat his green beans. The truly silly thing is that some number of academic debates get decided by the judge tallying how many GTW-style scenarios survived the round on each side, then handing it to the "lesser of two evils." See debate.