Words How To Construct The "enemy" And "threat"

Simply speaking, discourse is language in use, and discourse analysis is the research of what is said, how to say, why say so and the consequnences of a particular discourse being framed. Discourse is of great importance in international relations because the interaction of actors is completed through discourse as well as the expression of intention of the actors. The constructional function of discourse should be laid great emphasis by researchers of international relations. The so-called threat and enemy are always not objective for they are constructed through political discourses, and what is being constructed and how to construct depend on the needs and cognition of policymakers. Therefore, where there is need and cognition of threat and enemy, there is a framed discourse and constructed enemy. In this thesis, theories and methodologies of linguistic philosophy and postmodern philosophy related to discourse analysis are applied into the research of international relations. The foreign policy discourse of U.S. president and its construction of threat are being studied in the thesis, and three speeches are chose as cases(Woodrow Wlison's Fourteen Points, Harry Truman's Speech on Issues of Greece and Turkey, and George W. Bush's speech of Freedom at War with Fear).