Graduation Year
2015
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Politics and International Relations
Reader 1
Sumita Pahwa
Reader 2
Ayat Agah
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2014 Sanjana P. Singh
Abstract
The United States has maintained a heavy military presence in Afghanistan for a little more than a decade however; the US has been involved in Afghanistan on and off for over three decades. The 2001 ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan became framed around the goal of saving Afghan women. In order to understand how this framing came about and what the impact of this framing was I study US congressional documents, speeches and other public rhetoric by government officials in the 1980s and early 2000s. Analyzing rhetorical language and reoccurring themes helps us understand what major framing devices and narrative techniques were in play during these time periods. Ultimately I conclude that women’s safety was a post-facto justification for intervention; the framing techniques used during the 2001 were utilized in order to create a clear, coherent narrative that selectively ignores the impact of US involvement in Afghanistan during the Cold War.
Recommended Citation
Singh, Sanjana P., "Framing Freedom Wars: US Rhetoric in Afghanistan During the Cold War and the War on Terror" (2015). Scripps Senior Theses. 541.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/541
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
