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How Security Discourse Shapes The Threat of Terrorism - The Historical Nerds
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How Security Discourse Shapes the Threat of Terrorism
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By Andre Lopes Massa
Since 9/11, terrorism has come to be regarded as the greatest
existential threat to Western civilization by policy makers and citizens
alike. Despite the relatively barren history regarding terrorism before
and since 9/11, a politics of fear has gripped the West in taking
extreme measures despite the revelation that it is more likely for the
average person to get struck by lightning or drown in their own bathtub
then get killed in a terrorist attack. Current discourse on terrorism is
focused on characterizing the terrorist body as one who threatens our
American way of life and is motivated by nothing than the desire to see
the destruction of America and the values she represents. This discourse
has permeated itself into every facet of political decision-making and
civil society to the point where we have constructed institutions such
as the Department of Homeland Security and the Travel Security
Administration to combat this threat. This paper seeks to examine how
current discourse on terrorism since 9/11 is characterized and heavily
influenced by the logic of security introduced by Barry Buzan and the
Copenhagen School and continues to introduce current U.S policy against
the threat of terrorism. My argument here is that terrorism, as a
spectacle and an existential threat to the U.S and the rest of the
western world, is not real; it is just a construction necessitated by
the logic of security and the different forms that security discourse
(discourse being defined as the way we think and speak about ideas)
takes, such as Edward Saids concept of Orientalism and the construction
of the terrorist based on lines of sexuality as argued by Jasbir Puar in
her book /Terrorist Assemblages/. It is through the examinations of
these specific forms of discourse and the us versus them mentality
that each of them is structured upon that is reminiscent of the Buzans
logic of security and contributes to the legitimization of extreme
policy making we see today.
The concept of securitization is a relatively new and dynamic concept
introduced in the international relations. The Copenhagen Schools
concept introduced by Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap De Vilde has
been received with mixed attitudes by international relations scholars.
Introduced in 1998 by Buzan, Waever and De Vilde in their book
/Security: A New Framework for Analysis, /the Copenhagen School argues
that security is about survival. It is when an issue presented as
posing an existential threat to a designated referent object. The
special nature of security justifies the use of the use of extraordinary
measures to handle them. (Buzan, Waever, De Vilde, /Security: A New
Framework for Analysis/, pg. 21). In this context, we can see some
similarities between the Copenhagen Schools analysis of security and
realism; insofar as both schools of thought focus on a states desire
for survival. However, the Copenhagen Schools analysis of security is
more focused on the kinds of discourse that characterize security logic
and the justification of extraordinary means, like the Department of
Homeland Security in relation to the threat of terrorism, against a
constructed threat. On this matter, the Copenhagen School argues,
Traditionally, by saying security, a state representative declares an
emergency condition, thus claiming a right to use whatever means are
necessary to block a threatening development. (Buzan, Waever, De Vilde,
/Security: A New Framework for Analysis/, pg. 21). To better understand
this concept in relation to current events, one can think of the context
the term national security is used and the kinds of threats it is
often associated with; terrorism being a prime example. The Copenhagen
School argues that democracies are not immune to corruption by the logic
of security. In fact, according to the Copenhagen School, democracies
may be even more prone to the logic of security because the discourse
that constitutes security logic often legitimizes the removal of
discursive justifications for extreme measures because the construction
of an existential threat legitimizes the use of extraordinary means. The
Copenhagen School argues, Some security discourse is not legitimized in
public by security discourse because they are not out in the public at
all but this is actually a very clear case of the security logic. In a
democracy, at some point it must be argued by the public sphere why a
situation constitutes security and therefore can legitimately be handled
differently. One could not take something out of the budget without
giving reason for the use of such extraordinary procedure. When this
procedure has been legitimized through security rhetoric, it becomes
institutionalized as a package legitimization, and is thus possible to
have black security boxes in the political process. The speech act
requires public influence on these issues, but in democracies one must
legitimize in public why from now on the details will not be presented
publicly. (Buzan, Waever, De Vilde, /Security: A New Framework for
Analysis/, pg. 28). It is important to note the idea of security being a
speech act because it sets the framework for how we can analyze the
relationship between the logic of security and the discourse that
characterizes the threat of terrorism. In his article, /The Role of
Works Cited
Blum, William . A Brief History of U.S Interventions: 1945 to the
Present . /U.S. Interventions/. Z magazine , 1 June 1999. Web. 8 May
2014.
<http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/US_Interventions_WBlumZ.html>.
Buzan, Barry, Ole Waever, and Jaap H. de Wilde. /Security: a new
framework for analysis/. Boulder [u.a.: Rienner, 1998. Print.
"Congressional Budget Office." /The Proposed Homeland Security Budget
for 2013/. Congressional Budget Office, 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 8 May 2014.
<http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43520>.
"Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S Code." /FBI/. FBI, 20 Aug. 2013.
Web. 5 May 2014.
<http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition>.
"Homeland Security." /About DHS/. Department of Homeland Security, n.d.
Web. 9 May 2014. <http://www.dhs.gov/about-dhs>.
Jackson, Richard. "Constructing Enemies: Islamic Terrorism in
Political and Academic Discourse." /Government and Opposition: An
International Journal of Comparative Politics/ 43.3 (2007): 394-426.
/Wiley Online Library/. Web. 9 May 2014.
Karampampas, Sotirios . "The Role of Discourse in the Social
threat-of-terrorism/?share=email&nb=1>
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