The American rhetorical construction of the Iranian nuclear threat / Jason Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jones, Jason, 1981-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuclear nonproliferation--Iran.

Nuclear nonproliferation.

Communication in politics.

History.

Iran.

Communication in politics--United States--History--21st century.

United States--Foreign relations--Iran.

United States.

International relations.

Iran--Foreign relations--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 191 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, 2011.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

From 2002 to 2008, the Bush administration argued that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, despite years of inconclusive International Atomic Energy Agency inspection reports. In the absence of substantive evidence, much of the debate was conducted via public forums with a heavy persuasive element to the discourse. This book offers an in-depth consideration of the rhetoric surrounding Iran's controversial nuclear programme. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, examining speeches, interviews, news reports, online message boards and newspaper layouts during the Bush Presidency (2000-2008). Engaging with visual grammar and narrative, the hook looks at layouts from the Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post, amongst others.

The book points out, using rhetorical theory and discourse analysis, the conditions that lent credibility to the Bush administration's position by examining the arguments Bush and his political surrogates put forward, and the discourse strategies that influenced which ideas gained salience and which ideas were downplayed. Political communication and Foucault's theory of governmentality are used to articulate the implications regarding the influence, importance and expansion of executive power. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction: Executive Power, the Press, and Iran

Chapter 2 The United States Versus Iran: Stasis Theoryand Defining the Nuclear Debate

Chapter 3 Controlling the Discourse: Interviews with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Chapter 4 Verbal Tug-of-War: An Interview with the Enemy

Chapter 5 The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate : A Visual Analysis of News Coverage

Chapter 6 Before World War III: Discourse Studiesand Social Change

Appendix A Excerpt from Interview on ABCs This Week with George Stephanopoulos and Peter Jennings

Appendix B Interview with Jonathan Karl of ABC News

Appendix C Excerpt from Interview with Andrea Mitchell of NBC News

Appendix D Excerpt from Interview on CBSs Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer and Doyle McManus

Appendix E Excerpt from Remarks to the National Conference of Editorial Writers

Appendix F Excerpt from Interview with Bill OReilly of The OReilly Factor on Fox News

Appendix G Excerpt from Interview with Andrea Koppel of CNN

Appendix H Excerpt from Interview with Barbara Slavinand Ray Locker of USA Today

Appendix I Excerpt from Interview on the Sean Hannity Show

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [175]-186) and index.

Electronic reproduction. London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. Available via World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement. s2014 dcunns

Other Format:

Original

ISBN:

9781474211987

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.