"I deeply regret that some perceive my being here as political": Netanyahu's speech on Iran's nuclear deal as a securitizing move

This presentation aims to demonstrate the importance of discourse (linguistics & rhetorical) analysis in politics and especially International Relations. In this regard, I focus on the key concept of security. There is a... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation aims to demonstrate the importance of discourse (linguistics & rhetorical) analysis in politics and especially International Relations. In this regard, I focus on the key concept of security. There is a growing tendency in IR to view security interests as being discursively constructed. According to this view, political issues can be converted into security issues (securitized) through discourse. This discourse-oriented approach to IR relies on the broader Constructivist Social Theory. Here, I draw on Rhetoric to explain the process of Securitisation through discourse. For doing so, I examine Netanyahu’s speech given to the U.S. Congress regarding Iran’s nuclear deal on March 3, 2015. I will show how Israeli Prime Minister securitized Iran's nuclear deal (how Netanyahu’s speech constructed Iran as a real security threat to Israel and the whole world). In doing so, I flags rhetorical devices Netanyahu employed in his speech and discuss how he resorted to Aristotle’s Triad of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos to make his speech appealing to the audience and thus a successful securitization move. I demonstrate that the five elements of Securitization Theory including the threatening subject (Iran) and threatened object (Israel) are systematically constructed in the speech through various discursive devices. Then, I draw on CMT Complex (Galtung, 1996) to explicate the linguistic findings in the light of Jewish historical and religious myths and traumas. This study points to the need for conducting interdisciplinary studies in the field of International Relations by showing the benefits of linguistic analysis in explicating an IR theory (securitization theory).

Keywords: Chosennes-Myths-Trauma; Iran's nuclear deal; Persuasion; Securitization