U.S.A. versus ‘Them’: Fomenting an Enemy for the Hegemonic Discourse

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which the American foreign policy elite justify and formulate their policies against an imaginary enemy in the name of defending their people. Washington‟s enemy does not exist, rather is fabricated by using binary constructions. It divides the world into two, based on the assumption that there is an unchangeable character of duality: us and them. Once „they or them‟ were Communists, now, „they‟ are Muslims or Islam. This political enculturation is done through spoken and written texts to help preserve its domination and justify its interventionism worldwide as „good wars‟. The article also examines the media‟s role in discourse setting which not only manufactures consent, but also criminalises dissent by using phraseology and labelling.