Making war and peace with emotion: Examining the Iraq and Iran cases via presidential speech and media coverage
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0192512120982498 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512120982498
International Political Science Review
2023, Vol. 44(2) 230 –243
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512120982498
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Making war and peace with
emotion: Examining the Iraq
and Iran cases via presidential
speech and media coverage
Katherine Seaton
IntraHealth International, USA
H Denis Wu
Boston University, USA
Abstract
This study investigates emotions conveyed in US presidential speeches and media coverage regarding the
Iraq War and the Iran nuclear deal during 2003 and 2015. The researchers gathered and examined news
stories about the two policies, all official speeches delivered by George W Bush and Barack Obama, and
opinion polls conducted during the respective six-month period in those two years. Nine discrete emotions
were coded to capture the valence and volume in the speeches and news media content. The study finds
that emotions appear more frequently in the Iraq discourse than in the Iran counterpart. President Bush
used more negative emotions while President Obama employed more positive emotions. Emotion in the
media coverage is constant and stable across the two policy periods; yet negative emotions are more
prevalent than positive counterparts in the media despite distinct foreign policies. The study also examines
public opinion trends toward the two policies for inferring potential linkage. This article contributes to the
conceptual nexus among emotional persuasion, journalism pattern, and foreign policy-making process.
Keywords
Foreign policy, media coverage, emotion, public opinion, peace, war, speech
Introduction
Foreign policy decision-making hinges greatly on public sentiment. To persuade reluctant
Americans to support participation in World War II, the United States (US) government collabo-
rated with media industries to produce propaganda to bolster patriotism and uplift emotions (Fyne,
1997). Emotion arguably plays a critical role in all wars (Scheff, 1994) and deserves to be exam-
ined in its relationship with foreign policy-making processes. In the past two decades, the US has
Corresponding author:
H Denis Wu, College of Communication, Boston University, 640 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Email: hdw@bu.edu
982498IPS0010.1177/0192512120982498International Political Science ReviewSeaton and Wu
research-article2021
Original Research Article
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