Coercion by fear: Securitization of Iraq prior to the 2003 war
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702019875967 |
| Author | Basar Baysal |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essay |
Scholarly Essay
Coercion by fear:
Securitization of Iraq
prior to the 2003 war
Basar Baysal
Department of International Relations, Bilkent University, Ankara,
Turkey
Abstract
The Iraq War was one of the most prominent events of the early 2000s. The prelude to
the war halted the sense of optimism that captivated International Relations as a dis-
cipline after the end of the Cold War. The United States initiated this war following a
lengthy securitization process. This study focuses on analyzing the securitization process
in Iraq prior to the 2003 war. To that end, the article investigates the securitization
process by asking, ‘‘How, within what context, and when did the securitization of Iraq
take place?’’ For the study, 85 speeches made by President Bush are analyzed to exam-
ine how the president presented Iraq as an existential threat. The study also examines
the kinds of arguments used by the Bush administration in securitizing Iraq. This study
contributes to the literature on the 2003 Iraq War and security studies by applying
Securitization Theory to the Iraq case by incorporating two essential contributions to
the securitization analysis: context and audience(s).
Keywords
Securitization, Iraq War, intervention, Bush administration, Saddam Hussein regime,
Copenhagen School
This study argues that the Bush administration securitized Iraq and convinced both
its own public and international society that Iraq was an existential threat. It did so
to take extraordinary measures against the Saddam Hussein regime. To securitize
Iraq, the Bush administration utilized a number of reference points related to the
Saddam Hussein regime: its possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), its
nuclear ambitions, its links with terrorist organizations, its brutal and undemo-
cratic rule, and its human rights violations.
International Journal
2019, Vol. 74(3) 363–386
!The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702019875967
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Corresponding author:
Basar Baysal, Department of International Relations, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
Email: bb.apfsds@hotmail.com
The time frame for the study is limited to the period between 11 September 2001
and 19 March 2003. The date 11 September 2001 is selected because the 9/11
attacks affected US domestic and foreign policy and played a vital contextual
role in the securitization process. The date 19 March 2003 is selected because it
marks the start of the invasion. This can be seen as the start of extraordinary
measures, which is the most significant indicator of a successful securitization.
This time frame does not suggest that Iraq was not a security issue for the US
prior to the 9/11 attacks. Therefore, although this study focuses on the securitiza-
tion efforts after the 9/11 attacks, it also examines the history of Iraqi–American
relations.
To analyze the securitization process of Iraq, a detailed literature review was
conducted to present the units of the securitization process and contextual factors.
In addition, a content analysis was conducted to analyze 85 speeches
1
by President
Bush in order to show how the president framed Iraq as an existential security
threat. The analysis was not carried out by merely counting certain keywords such
as ‘‘Saddam’’ or ‘‘WMD’’ in the texts. All of the speeches were read thoroughly,
and evaluated to see whether President Bush referred to certain reference points
identified in Table 1. If the president referred to a reference point in a speech
(irrespective of how many times he referred to the same reference point in the
Table 1. Main reference points.
Main reference point Sub-topics
Iraq and weapons of
mass destruction
Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction
Saddam Hussein regime’s previous usages of weap-
ons of mass destruction
Saddam Hussein regime’s previous non-compliances
Iraq’s nuclear ambitions
Iraq’s terrorist connections Iraq’s connections with terrorist organizations
(other than al-Qaeda)
Iraq’s connections with al-Qaeda
Possibility of Iraq to provide weapons of mass
destruction to terrorists
Other reference points Saddam Hussein regime’s brutality and human rights
violations
Saddam Hussein regime’s hostility toward the US
Saddam Hussein regime as a threat to regional and
international peace
Saddam Hussein being personally evil, tyrannical, and
a dictator
1. In these speeches, President Bush referred to Iraq within the time frame of this study: http://
georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/iraq/archive.html; http://usiraq.procon.org/view.res
ource.php?resourceID¼684 (accessed 2 November 2015).
364 International Journal 74(3)
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