Selling war, selling hope : presidential rhetoric, the news media, and U.S. foreign policy since 9/11 / Anthony R. DiMaggio.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dimaggio, Anthony R., 1980- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media and international relations--United States.

Mass media and international relations.

Communication in politics--United States.

Communication in politics.

Rhetoric--Political aspects--United States.

Rhetoric.

Political oratory--United States.

Political oratory.

War on Terrorism, 2001-2009--Public opinion.

War on Terrorism, 2001-2009.

Arab Spring, 2010---Public opinion.

Arab Spring, 2010-.

Public opinion--United States.

Public opinion.

United States--Foreign relations--2001-2009.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations--2009-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (433 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany, New York : SUNY Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Modern presidents have considerable power in selling U.S. foreign policy objectives to the public. In Selling War, Selling Hope, Anthony R. DiMaggio documents how presidents often make use of the media to create a positive informational environment that, at least in the short term, successfully builds public support for policy proposals. Using timely case studies with a focus on the Arab Spring and the U.S. "War on Terror" in the Middle East and surrounding regions, DiMaggio explains how official spin is employed to construct narratives that are sympathetic to U.S. officialdom. The mass media, rather than exhibiting independence when it comes to reporting foreign policy issues, is regularly utilized as a political tool for selling official proposals. The marginalization of alternative, critical viewpoints poses a significant obstacle to informed public deliberations on foreign policy issues. In the long run, however, the packaging of official narrative and its delivery by the media begins to unravel as citizens are able to make use of alternative sources of information and assert their independence from official viewpoints.

Contents:

Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; Acknowledgments; Introduction: Presidential Rhetoric from September 11 to the Arab Spring; Scholarly Contributions; Previous Scholarship; Casualties; Expected Success; Partisanship and Elite Cues; Perceived Immorality; Outline; Chapter 1: The Rhetoric of Fear and Hope in Afghanistan; Chapter 2: Selling the Iraq War; Chapter 3: Failure: The Iraq War and Declining Influence of Presidential Rhetoric; Chapter 4: An Iranian Threat? Recycling the Rhetoric of Fear and Hope; Chapter 5: From Fear to Democracy: Presidential Rhetoric in the Arab Spring

Chapter 6: Losing Control: Obama's Rhetoric on Benghazi and SyriaResearch Methods; Chapter 1: The Rhetoric of Fear and Hope in Afghanistan; The Shock of September 11; Making the Case for War; Journalists Embrace the War on Terror; Public Opinion; Conclusions for the 2001 Afghan Conflict; Out of Control: Afghanistan in 2009; Growing Antiwar Sentiment; Obama's Escalation and the Evolution of Dissent; 2008 Election Rhetoric; The December Surge; Obama's Speech at West Point Military Academy; Postsurge Rhetoric; Challenges to the Surge; Undermining the War; Editorializing for War

Amplifying Officials, Marginalizing DissentSelling the Surge; Conclusions; Chapter 2: Selling the Iraq War; The War with Iraq; Critical Assessments of Bush's Rhetoric; Chemical and Biological Weapons; No Evidence of Nuclear Weapons; Fictitious Ties to Al Qaeda; Presidential Propaganda; Media and Public Support for War; Pro-War Framing in Elite Media; Enthusiasm for War; Cautiously Beating the Drums for War; Pro-War Reporting; Defining Objectivity; Media Effects of Pro-War Messages; Public Opinion; Setting the Agenda; Media Independence?; Concluding Lessons

Chapter 3: Failure: The Iraq War and the Declining Influence of Presidential RhetoricWhy Do Americans Oppose War?; Moral Opposition to War; The 'Vietnam Syndrome'; Shifting Opinions; The Origins of Dissent: Critical Information and the Media; Growing Dissent; Failing to Sell War; Capturing Saddam Hussein; The Weapons of Mass Destruction Fiasco; The Abu Ghraib Scandal; Elections in Iraq; Guantanamo Bay; 2,000 Soldiers Dead; Civil War; The Surge; Explaining Opposition to War; Defining Immorality; Common Moral Objections; Secondary Objections; Partisanship, Elite Theory, and Democratic Theory

Concluding LessonsChapter 4: An Iranian Threat? Recycling the Rhetoric of Fear and Hope; A Background to U.S.-Iranian Hostilities; Bush and Iran; Obama's Conflict; Challenging Presidential Rhetoric; Reporting on Iran; Iran during the Bush Years; Iran in the Age of Obama; Effects of Elite Discourse on Public Opinion; Experimental Evidence of Framing Effects on Iran; A Closer Examination of Experimental Findings; Concluding Lessons; Chapter 5: From Fear to Democracy: Presidential Rhetoric in the Arab Spring

From Fear to Democracy: Presidential Rhetoric from the 'War on Terror' to the Arab Spring

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438457970

1438457979

OCLC:

921987784