Ep. 70: Laundering Imperial Violence Through Anodyne Foreign Policy-Speak (Part I)

Barack Obama unleashes "kinetic strikes” on Libya, Hillary Clinton lobbies for "limited military coercion" in Syria, Congress passes “robust sanctions” on Iran, and Trump gives “US generals more room to run” as he “ramps up” “pressure” on ISIS. The Center for American Progress calls for a “no fly zone” to “protect civilians.” It’s important the US “engage” in the Middle East as it “reasserts itself” on “the world stage,” and backs up “diplomacy” with “military muscle.” While Russia "expands" its naval and nuclear capacity the US merely “modernizes” its fleet or stockpile. “All options are on the table” when discussing Venezuela and Iran. 

So much of how we discuss US militarism and imperialism is laundered through seemingly anodyne phrases, rhetorical thingamajigs that vaguely gesture towards an idea without drawing up unseemly images of what’s really being called for.

In this two-part episode, we examine what’s being said, what’s being left out when we use “foreign policy-speak,” and how writers can avoid these lazy euphemisms, and instead make a concerted effort to objectively describe the policy being advocated for rather than relying on well-worn thought-terminating cliches that are designed to do all of our thinking for us. 

Our guest is FAIR's Janine Jackson.

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Guest

Janine Jackson is program director at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) and the producer and host of FAIR’s syndicated weekly radio show CounterSpin.

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Show Notes

Pundits, Decrying the Horrors of War in Aleppo, Demand Expanded War

Adam Johnson | August 24, 2016 | The Nation

Hurting, Hanging, Suffocating & Starving: The Inhumanity of Iran Threat Rhetoric

Nima Shirazi | March 2, 2012 | Wide Asleep In America

The Soft Bigotry of the American Left When It Comes To The Middle East

Evan Barrett | June 10, 2016 | The Daily Beast

Hillary Clinton’s Likely Defense Secretary Wants More US Troops Fighting ISIS and Assad

Patrick Tucker | June 20, 2016 | DefenseOne

Hillary Clinton’s insane plan for a no-fly zone

Adam Johnson | December 29, 2015 | Al Jazeera

Obama’s Doctrine of Restrain

Roger Cohen | October 12, 2015 | The New York Times

‘Signature Strikes’ and the President’s Empty Rhetoric on Drones

Arianna Huffington | September 9, 2013 | The Huffington Post

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Transcript

For a full transcript of this episode, go here.

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