Social logics and normalisation in the war on terror

Solomon, T. (2009) Social logics and normalisation in the war on terror. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 38(2), pp. 269-294. (doi: 10.1177/0305829809347513)

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Abstract

Many have noted how the Bush administration’s linking of Iraq to the war on terror lent a certain degree of legitimacy to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Few scholars who have noted this linkage, however, have theorised about the specific discursive mechanisms that allowed Iraq to be incorporated and normalised within the war on terror. This article utilises the theoretical framework of Ernesto Laclau to analyse how ‘Iraq’ was (re)constructed as a threat through the war on terror. The productive power of the discourses constructing ‘Iraq’ is examined in the wording of poll questions as sites of reproduction and naturalisation of the dominant understandings of Iraq and the war on terror. Rather than tools used to measure public opinion that exists independently of them, this article argues that polls are better viewed as vehicles through which foreign policy and security discourses are stabilised and naturalised.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Solomon, Professor Ty
Authors: Solomon, T.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
Journal Name:Millennium: Journal of International Studies
Publisher:SAGE Publications
ISSN:0305-8298
ISSN (Online):1477-9021

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