The phrase "a central debate" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to refer to a key or primary discussion point in a particular context, such as an academic paper or a discussion on a controversial topic.
Example: "The article explores a central debate in environmental policy regarding climate change and its economic implications."
Alternatives: "a key discussion" or "a main argument".
That question is rapidly becoming a central debate within the Democratic party's search for a presidential nomination.
It has also become a central debate in comparative politics, on how to turn democratic reforms into better governance and effective development policies.
On that differing interpretation also hangs a central debate about society's right to freedom of the press as against an individual's right to a private life.
In the context of performance optimizations in multitasking, a central debate has unfolded in multitasking research around whether cognitive processes related to different tasks proceed only sequentially (one at a time), or can operate in parallel (simultaneously).
To some degree, Mr. Giuliani's reception here underscored a central debate in the Republican Party: Must it move closer to the center, especially on social issues, in order to regain the White House in 2000?
Part of the reason may be that he brings almost every philosophical question back to a central debate about the nature of the self, a battle between reason and the passions.
Malcolm Turnbull's short-lived state income tax plan is looking a lot like a tactic to recast the central debate of the 2016 election campaign – does Australia need to raise more revenue?
Honoring these four scholars this year would have been a public acknowledgement that the central debate in economics, about the proper role of markets, remains unresolved, and it would also have signaled why the subject is so interesting.
More broadly, events there, as distant as they might appear to voters here, have a direct bearing on the central debate in the presidential campaign, over the size and role of government and the degree and timing of deficit reduction necessary to forestall a long-term fiscal crisis.
This is an invigorating, urgent book that makes an important contribution to a central contemporary debate.
Whenever there was a central economics debate, Krueger was there, armed with data and evidence, his colleagues said.
