をめぐって vs について — をめぐって implies a fight, について doesn't

One I wish someone had told me sooner: 「税制改革について話し合う」just means 'discuss tax reform' (neutral topic marker), but 「税制改革をめぐって対立する」means 'clash OVER tax reform' — をめぐって almost always shows up around nouns describing conflict, dispute, debate, or controversy (対立, 論争, 争う, 話し合いが続く). It's less 'about X' and more 'circling around X as the contested center.' If the sentence has no tension at all, について or に関して is usually the better pick.