For the purposes of this debate, there are two ways to respond to a difficult or unpleasant situation (adversity). To “fight fire with fire” is to use the same methods as someone else (synonymous with "stooping to someone's level", or "matching someone's energy"), whereas to “take the high road” is to act in a morally superior way, even when it is difficult to do so (synonymous with "rising above" or "acting in good conscience")

Lustration is a policy in which people at all levels of the political system associated with the former regime and their political parties are often systematically removed and politically excluded without trial. For example, officials associated with the communist parties in Central and Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

'Multi-Speed Europe' is a scenario where existing Member States in the European Union integrate at different paces, where certain Member States opt in doing more in specific policy areas, while others opt out. This would not apply retroactively, so existing policies would remain unified, but new policies would be differentially adopted. These may cover policies such as defence, internal security, taxation or social matters.

A “leadership election” is a political contest held in various democracies by which the citizens of a state can vote to determine who will be the leader of a political party. They do not have to be committed to the political party to vote, but they cannot vote in more than one primary election at once (i.e. if you voted in the Republican primary elections, you cannot then vote in the Democratic primary elections)

This elected individual then runs for “Head of State” or its equivalent (prime minister or president). An example of this would be the US open primaries.