عنوان

Rhetoric, world-view, and strategy in united states national security strategy documents

Number

TL48033

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Rhetoric, world-view, and strategy in united states national security strategy documents

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Travis J. Cram

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

Rowland, Robert C.

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Kansas

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2014

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

225

Text of Note

Committee members: Harris, Scott; Innocenti, Beth; Loomis, Burdett; Parson, Donn W.

Text of Note

Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-36971-7

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Discipline of degree

Communication Studies

Body granting the degree

University of Kansas

Text preceding or following the note

2014

Text of Note

Beginning in 1987, American Presidents have published a National Security Strategy (NSS), a public statement of their administration's grand strategy for the conduct of foreign policy. Despite breaking with a centuries-old tradition of secrecy, NSS documents have been routinely dismissed by scholars and experts as little more than an exercise in public relations or 'mere rhetoric.' In this dissertation, I argue that such a dismissive attitude is unproductive because it overlooks important linkages between the public expression of foreign policy, the influence that symbolism and rhetoric have on threat perception and policy choice, and the diverse (and continually shifting) array of audiences that such documents reach and influence. I engage in a close rhetorical analysis of the NSS documents of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama in order to make this argument. Additionally, I demonstrate that NSS documents are an important resource for comparatively evaluating various administrations' foreign policies, thus facilitating better deliberation over grand strategy. While NSS documents may not function as 'blueprints' for foreign policy, they are an important site for grounding public argument over the future of American foreign policy in an increasingly uncertain world.

American studies; International Relations; Rhetoric

Subject Term

Language, literature and linguistics;Social sciences;Burke, kenneth;Bush, george w.;Foreign policy rhetoric;Iran;Obama, barak;Reagan, ronald

Chammout, Omar Jamal

Rowland, Robert C.

Subdivision

Communication Studies

University of Kansas

Call Number

1637726939; 3646900

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y