John Benjamins Publishing Company
Remaking U.S. foreign policy for a new beginning with the Arab and Muslim worlds
Abstract
Since his inaugural speech on January 20, 2009 as the 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Obama has consistently kept the eloquence of his political language that addresses the issue of change and the need to remake America by reintroducing it to itself and the world at large. In his “Cairo Speech” which addresses a new beginning with the Arab and Muslim worlds, President Obama continues to use the same linguistic choices to effect a change in the foreign policy of his administration through dialogue. This article looks at the transformative language as well as the discursive features of Obama’s “Cairo Speech” as a context-dependent political discourse laced with the potential to make a ‘historic’ change in the foreign policy of the United States as a global power. Linguistic and discursive constructs related to “change” and a “new beginning” with the Muslim and Arab Worlds are embedded in a new type of political language calling for a constructive dialogue with ‘partners’ in an attempt to dust off the stains which the equivocal language of the eight-year Bush administration has brought upon the American foreign policy.
Abstract
Since his inaugural speech on January 20, 2009 as the 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Obama has consistently kept the eloquence of his political language that addresses the issue of change and the need to remake America by reintroducing it to itself and the world at large. In his “Cairo Speech” which addresses a new beginning with the Arab and Muslim worlds, President Obama continues to use the same linguistic choices to effect a change in the foreign policy of his administration through dialogue. This article looks at the transformative language as well as the discursive features of Obama’s “Cairo Speech” as a context-dependent political discourse laced with the potential to make a ‘historic’ change in the foreign policy of the United States as a global power. Linguistic and discursive constructs related to “change” and a “new beginning” with the Muslim and Arab Worlds are embedded in a new type of political language calling for a constructive dialogue with ‘partners’ in an attempt to dust off the stains which the equivocal language of the eight-year Bush administration has brought upon the American foreign policy.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledges vii
-
Part I. Introduction
- Dialogue in politics 3
-
Part II. Politics as interaction
- Internet newspaper discussion lists 21
- Political videos in digital news discourse 43
- Watch dogs or guard dogs? 69
- Types of positioning in television election debates 89
- Personal marketing and political rhetoric 113
- Private dialogue in public space 127
-
Part III. Politics as imposition
- Perspectivation in the Romanian parliamentary discourse 151
- The making of a new American revolution or 'a wolf in sheep’s clothing' 167
- Remaking U.S. foreign policy for a new beginning with the Arab and Muslim worlds 193
- War-normalizing dialogue (WND) 221
- Multimodality and performance 241
- Subject index 309
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledges vii
-
Part I. Introduction
- Dialogue in politics 3
-
Part II. Politics as interaction
- Internet newspaper discussion lists 21
- Political videos in digital news discourse 43
- Watch dogs or guard dogs? 69
- Types of positioning in television election debates 89
- Personal marketing and political rhetoric 113
- Private dialogue in public space 127
-
Part III. Politics as imposition
- Perspectivation in the Romanian parliamentary discourse 151
- The making of a new American revolution or 'a wolf in sheep’s clothing' 167
- Remaking U.S. foreign policy for a new beginning with the Arab and Muslim worlds 193
- War-normalizing dialogue (WND) 221
- Multimodality and performance 241
- Subject index 309
