![Sample our Communication Studies journals, sign in here to start your access, 2013 & 2014 volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5927/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Information-Science2.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
While several studies have explored strategic communication in relation to military intervention, this study analyses communicative strategies in the context of military withdrawals and redeployments. We focus on the case study of the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan to analyse which (and how) strategic narratives were discursively mobilised by the US administration on Twitter (now known as X) to seek public support and legitimacy for its operations. Findings suggest that key narratives of securitisation, national interest and responsibility were deployed through macro strategies of transcendence, bolstering, blaming and mitigation. We claim that while early representations of the war in Afghanistan were depicted as an unavoidable mission, the overarching discourse has now shifted to portrayals of the war being unsustainable and no longer needed by the United States.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 At the time this study was carried out and the article was written, the platform was officially known as Twitter. Following Elon Musk’s acquisition, the platform was rebranded as X in July 2023. For consistency, in this article we have kept our reference to the platform in its original name.
2 This statement is attributed by Valverde (Citation2021) to Biden as part of the President’s speech delivered on 20 August 21; however, it does not appear in the transcript of videos posted on the @POTUS account.
3 In the international law system, the R2P principle holds sovereign states accountable to protect their own citizens. If they fail to uphold this principle, the obligation to protect falls on the international community, thus justifying humanitarian intervention through force.