A Critical Discourse Analysis of Barack Hussein Obama’s Political Speeches on the Middle East and the Muslim World

Abstract

Political discourse analysis is aimed at highlighting the emancipatory agendas of political actors who dialectically articulate their discourse for the specific purpose of grasping “pro-ideologies” of masses without giving much room to their real interests. To a great extent the manipulation of language serves as a sturdy tool for political benefits and consequently it provides a strong base for the exploitations of the ideological assumptions of people on a large scale. A critical discourse analysis of Barack Hussein Obama’s ideology and policy towards the East and the Muslim world demonstrates the above mentioned thesis; by smart linguistic choices he represents the political ideologies of America and its allies with implicit exhibition of power, dominance and hostility. The findings suggest that Obama safeguards America’s interests as well as its allies in the name of ‘peace’, ‘prosperity’, ‘democracy’, ‘economical support’ and ‘change’, specifically targeting young people. On one hand, he uses an extraordinary intervention of contemporary textual and contextual references and historical conventions with extensions while on the other hand, he exclusively tries to revitalize issues of ‘violence, tolerance, international peace and security, hegemony, human rights’ and so on in the current arena of chaos and international political instability, with a vibrant and optimistic and approach.