‘Cool to Rule’ Humanitarian intervention, Rhetoric and the Tony Blair missions to Kosovo and Iraq
LAHTINEN, SANNA (2006)
2006
Kansainvälinen politiikka - International Relations
Yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2006-12-04
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-16295
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-16295
Tiivistelmä
This thesis considers the theory and doctrine of humanitarian intervention through an individual. Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister since 1997 has seen and participated in a leading role to humanitarian operations in Kosovo and Iraq. Humanitarian intervention serves as a theory here whereas rhetoric is used as a method. I shall rely heavily on Kenneth Burke’s notions of rhetoric as well as Jonathan Charteris-Black’s writing of Tony Blair’s particular rhetorical style. Humanitarian intervention is something that has not been defined conclusively, which results in the fact that it is still a contested topic. Here, I shall present it through Tony Blair, and my case studies will be the two already mentioned conflicts.
Tony Blair was an obvious choice for me, because unlike his Washington D.C. colleagues, he has seen both of the conflicts take place or being ‘pushed along’. This also raises an interesting situation of Britain’s friendship with America and willingness to support the world’s only superpower in almost anything they suggest.
Kosovo and Iraq were and continue to be different kinds of conflicts, but they share the same denominators. Both have been argued through humanitarian intervention by the leaders of the intervening countries and criticised by others. There are no definite answers to these conflicts and therefore the situation is difficult.
The aim of the thesis is to find patterns of thought. Blair’s persona has sometimes been described as lamb and wolf in same clothing; it is said that he genuinely believes himself in what he says. However, the two-sidedness makes others vary of his reasoning as to him most issues in a broad sense are of good versus evil.
Therefore it is not by accident that he is a strong advocate of humanitarian intervention. Rhetorical reasoning, humanitarianism and Tony Blair form a certain ‘trinity’ which this thesis addresses accordingly with the help of two real-life examples.
Tony Blair was an obvious choice for me, because unlike his Washington D.C. colleagues, he has seen both of the conflicts take place or being ‘pushed along’. This also raises an interesting situation of Britain’s friendship with America and willingness to support the world’s only superpower in almost anything they suggest.
Kosovo and Iraq were and continue to be different kinds of conflicts, but they share the same denominators. Both have been argued through humanitarian intervention by the leaders of the intervening countries and criticised by others. There are no definite answers to these conflicts and therefore the situation is difficult.
The aim of the thesis is to find patterns of thought. Blair’s persona has sometimes been described as lamb and wolf in same clothing; it is said that he genuinely believes himself in what he says. However, the two-sidedness makes others vary of his reasoning as to him most issues in a broad sense are of good versus evil.
Therefore it is not by accident that he is a strong advocate of humanitarian intervention. Rhetorical reasoning, humanitarianism and Tony Blair form a certain ‘trinity’ which this thesis addresses accordingly with the help of two real-life examples.