Exceptional wars : how were the US military interventions in the 'War on Terror' possible?

Abstract

How were the US military interventions in the 'War on Terror' possible? This thesis argues that intervention in the 'War on Terror' was rendered possible through the strategic use of language that located intervention as consistent with pre-existing societal narratives of national identity in the American context, particularly those associated with the idea of American Exceptionalism. The thesis will treat of the Foreign Policy discourse of the Bush Administration after September 11th 2001 in order to answer the above question. A secondary aim of this thesis is to contribute to the growing body of literature that takes a Discourse Theory approach to the study of International Relations.