THREAT PERCEPTION IN THE SPEECHES OF GEORGE W. BUSH AND B. OBAMA: A COMPARISON
THREAT PERCEPTION IN THE SPEECHES OF GEORGE W. BUSH AND B. OBAMA: A COMPARISON

Author(s): Jana Svobodová
Subject(s): Language studies, Semantics, Security and defense, Politics and communication
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: U.S. Presidents; threat perception; speeches; threat to the United States;
Summary/Abstract: Public speeches delivered by the Presidents of the United States show similarities with regard to their length and basic features, such as the opening and closing sentences or references to the U.S. traditions, mission, etc. However, their content is highly dependent on the actual domestic and international situation. Besides the comparison of the quantitative data (the length of the speeches, the number of sentences/paragraphs/words/characters), the main focus of the article is to analyze and compare how threat to the United States is expressed in the speeches of G. W. Bush and B. Obama. The analyzed speeches were chosen according to their type (Inaugural Address, 9/11 Address, UN Address, State of the Union Address) as well as according to their date of delivery in order to show the changes between the speeches of G. W. Bush preceding or following the 9/11 attacks and the speeches delivered several years later by B. Obama. The results show that there are threats to the United States which have not changed over the years; however, both Presidents address the threats rather indirectly, showing the uncertainty the United States has faced since the end of the Cold War.

• Details
• Contents