Musings & Commentary

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Is Public Diplomacy a Rhetorical Genre?

I respond to Gerber's essay with skepticim, but agree that generic criticism can help reify the rhetorical tradition of public diplomacy for current and future practitioners.

Reading Burke in Bangladesh

Rukhsana Ahmed's essay "Interface of Political Opportunism and Islamic Extremism" has a welcome place in both rhetorical and political analysis, but could be more deeply appreciated in tandem with Mumtaz Ahmad's contextual analysis, "Islam, State, and Society in Bangladesh."

Female Terrorism and Feminist Rhetoric

In “Female Terrorism: A Review,” Karen Jacques and Paul J. Taylor encourage a collective pause and reconsideration of research addressing female terrorism. Their review offers a point of confluence with scholarship in feminist rhetoric.

Finding Common Cause Between Science Diplomacy and Epistemic Rhetoric

Epistemological trends impacting science discourse call for a rhetorical rather than programmatic perspective. Managers of science diplomacy programs can make common cause with rhetorical critics who by their craft develop self-reflexivity and refine a moral sensibility toward both doxa and praxis.

Transformational Diplomacy

Prior to the Transformational Diplomacy initiative’s unveiling, Regional and Functional Bureaus could negotiate internal decisions on equal footing. A review of rhetorical strategies suggests that in the short term, transformational diplomacy has narrowed the array of available standpoints to the Regional Bureaus’ advantage, but the Functional Bureaus' strategies may prove more durable in the long term.

Words Matter

Review and comment on the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties memo, “Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims.”