Representing Iran as a Threat: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Obama’s Rhetoric

Ali Basarati; Simant Shankar Bharti

doi:10.18290/pepsi-2025-0001

Published : 2025-12-30

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2025)

Representing Iran as a Threat: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Obama’s Rhetoric

Ali Basarati

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5327-1013

Simant Shankar Bharti

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9578-7066

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/pepsi-2025-0001

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between personal values and participation in consumer boycotts across countries, taking into account the role of national culture. The study is based on data from the 11th round of the European Social Survey (2023–2024), covering 27 European countries and Israel (N = 46,162). Personal values were measured using Schwartz’s Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-21), while national culture was described by Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions. The results confirm that self-transcendence and openness to change values along with lower levels of conservation values are associ-ated with greater involvement in boycotts. Moreover, the cultural dimension of indulgence was found to strengthen the positive influence of universalism, benevolence and self-direction values on boycott participation, suggesting that a higher tolerance for emotional expression in more indulgent countries may lead to greater boycott participation. These findings extend previous research by demonstrating that the relationship between personal values and consumer boycotts is shaped by the cultural context.

Keywords:

ethical consumption, basic values, cultural context, boycotting, European Social Survey

Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

pdf

Citation rules

Basarati, A., & Bharti, S. S. (2025). Representing Iran as a Threat: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Obama’s Rhetoric. Journal for Perspectives of Economic Political and Social Integration, 31(1), 7–33. https://doi.org/10.18290/pepsi-2025-0001

Altmetric indicators

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Altheide, D. L. (2006). Terrorism and the politics of fear. Rowman & Littlefield.

Billig, M. (2008). The language of critical discourse analysis: the case of nominalization. Discourse & Society, 19(6), 783–800. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926508095894

Booth, K. (2008). The human faces of terror: Reflections in a cracked looking-glass. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 1(1), 65–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539150701879816

Cap, P. (2006). Legitimization in political discourse: A cross disciplinary perspective on the modern US war rhetoric. Cambridge Scholars Press.

Cap, P. (2008). Towards the proximization model of the analysis of legitimization in political discourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 40(1), 17–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.10.002

Cap, P. (2010). Axiological aspects of proximization. Journal of Pragmatics, 42(2), 392–407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.06.008

Cap, P. (2013). Proximization: The pragmatics of symbolic distance crossing. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Cap, P. (2017). The language of fear: Communicating threat in public discourse. Palgrave Macmillan.

Cap, P. (2018). Spatial cognition. In J. Flowerdew and J. Richardson (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of critical discourse studies (pp. 92–105). Routledge.

Cap, P. (2021). Alternative futures in political discourse. Discourse & Society, 32(3), 328–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926520977218

Chilton, P. (2004). Analysing political discourse: Theory and practice. Routledge.

Chilton, P. (2014). Language, space and mind: The conceptual geometry of linguistic meaning. Cambridge University Press.

Dabbashi, H. (2015). Persophilia. Persian culture on global scene. Harvard University Press.

Dara, J., & Babaei, M. (2016). Shi’e harasi va Iran harasi: Rahbord-e Amrika baray-e hefze rezhim-e sahyunisti [Shiite phobia and Iranophobia: The US strategy to maintain Zionist regime]. Faslname-ye Motale’at-e Enghelab-e Eslami, 13(44): 189–208. https://dor.isc.ac/dor/20.1001.1.20085834.1395.13.44.10.0

Darabi, A. (2016). Hollywood va eslam harasi dar diplomasi-ye resane’ei Eyalat-e Motahede-ye Amrika pas az 11 septambr [Hollywood and Islamophobia in the U.S. post-9/11 media diplomacy]. Jostar-haye Siyasi-ye Mo’aser, 7(2), 1–20. https://politicalstudy.ihcs.ac.ir/article_2577.html

Dunmire, P. L. (2011). Projecting the future through political discourse. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Filardo-Llamas, L. (2015). Re-contextualizing political discourse: An analysis of shifting spaces in songs used as a political tool. Critical Discourse Studies, 12(3), 279–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2015.1013478

Ghiasian, M. S., Namvar, Z., Rovshan, B., & Soltani, A. A. (2014). Baznemayi-ye goftman-e mashrui’yate fa’aliyat-e hasteyi-ye Iran az negah-e Amrika

[Representation of the legitimation discourse of Iran’s nuclear activity in America’s view]. Faslname-ye Motale’ate Siyasi Jahan-e Eslam, 3(2), 97–122. http://dx.doi.org/10.20286/priw-030297

Hart, C. (2015). Viewpoint in linguistic discourse: Space and evaluation in news reports of political protests. Critical Discourse Studies, 12(3), 238–260.

Hodges, A., & Nilep, C. (Eds.). (2007). Discourse, war and terrorism. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

El Husseini, R. (2010). Hezbollah and the axis of refusal: Hamas, Iran and Syria. Third World Quarterly, 31(5), 803–815. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2010.502695

Izadi, F., Mehrbanifar, H., Chaboki, R., & Javid Mehr, M. (2013). Iran harasi dar Amrika: Baznemayi-ye sharq-senasan-e az barname-ye haste-ei Iran dar mostanad-e Iranium [Iranophobia in America: An Orientalist representation of Iran’s nuclear programmes in the documentary “Iranium”]. Faslname-ye Motale’at-e Enghelab-e Eslami, 10(35), 92–69. https://dor.isc.ac/dor/20.1001.1.20085834.1392.10.35.4.5

Jafarinejad, M. (2019). Diplomasy resanei Amrika alayhe Jomhouri Eslami Iran dar doran-e pasa-daesh [Public Diplomacy of US against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the post-ISIS era. Tahqiqat-e Siyasi va Beinolmelali, 11(38), 183–298. https://www.sid.ir/paper/515705/fa

Jamalzadeh, N., & Aghaei, M. (2015). Ta’sir-e Iran harasi dar reqabat-e taslihati-ye a’zaye Shuraye Hamkari-ye Khalije Fars [The study of the Iranophobia project in arms purchases of the Persian Gulf cooperation council members]. Jostar-haye Siyasi-ye Mo’aser, 6(15), 19–47. https://politicalstudy.ihcs.ac.ir/article_1656.html

Kadkhodee, E., & Ghasemi, Tari, Z. (2018). Otherising Iran in American political discourse: Case study of a post-JCPOA senate hearing on Iran sanctions. Third World Quarterly, 40(1), 109–128. https://10.1080/01436597.2018.1513786

Kellner, D. (2004). 9/11 spectacles of terror, and media manipulation: A critique of Jihadist and Bush media politics. Critical Discourse Studies, 1(1), 41–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405900410001674515

Mahdizade, A., & Mirhosseini, F. (2012). Rishe-haye Iran harasi az nega-e afkar-e omumi-ye jahan-e Arab [The roots of Iranophobia from the perspective of Arab public opinion]. Faslname-ye Siyasat-e Khareji, 31(2), 151–182. https://fp.ipisjournals.ir/article_28412.html

Mahdizade, S. M., & Soleimani Sasani, M. (2016). Eslam harasi va Iran harasi dar sinama-ye Hollywood: Tahlil-e film-e “Gheyr-e Ghabel-e Dark” [Islamophobia and Iranophobia in Hollywood cinema: An analysis of the movie Unthinkable]. Faslname-ye Motale’ate Ghodrat-e Narm, 6(1), 196–222. https://www.spba.ir/article_40928.html

Mottaghi, E. (2012). Islamic awakening and the extension of democratic soul in the Middle East. Quarterly of Diplomacy and Just Peace, 4. Retrieved April 26, 2015, from http://peace-ipsc.org/fa

Nor Mohammad, M., & Kazemi, H. (2015). Jaygah-e farhang dar takvin-e Iran harasi farhangi dar keshvar-haye hashiye-ye Khalij-e Fars [The role of culture in the genesis of Iranophobia in the Persian Gulf countries]. Pazhohesh-haye Rahbordi-ye Siyasat, 4(12), 87–113. https://qpss.atu.ac.ir/article_1224.html

Ram, H. (2009). Iranophobia. The logic of an Israeli obsession. Stanford University Press.

Ramazani, R. K. (1992). Iran’s foreign policy: Both North and South. Middle East Journal, 46(3), 393–412. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4328462

Shariatinia, M. (2010). Iran harasi: Dalayel va payamad-ha [Iranophobia: Rationales and consequences]. Faslname-ye Ravabet-e Khareji, 2(6), 191–208. https://dor.isc.ac/dor/20.1001.1.20085419.1389.2.2.6.0

Sharifi, S. M., Ansari, N., & Asadollahzade, M. (2016). Iran harasi dar gotogo-haye khabari-ye CNN: Motale’yi bar mabnaye tahlil-e goftman-e entegadi-ye van Dijk [Iranophobia in CNN news talks: A study based on van Dijk’s CDA approach]. Faslname-ye Motale’at-e Enghelab-e Eslami, 13(45), 189–207. https://dor.isc.ac/dor/20.1001.1.20085834.1395.13.45.10.2

Shokati Mogharab, S., Mansouri, M., & Ayubian, H. (2019). Tahlil-e entegadi-ye peikare-bonyad keifiyat-e baznamayi-e tahrim-haye Amrika alayhe Iran dar resane-hae gharbi bar mabna-ye peikare-ye berouz-shavande-ye NOWA corpus-based critical analysis of the representation of U.S. sanctions against Iran in the Western media: The case of NOW Corpus]. Faslname-ye Zabanshenasi-ye Ejtemayi, 3(1), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.30473/il.2019.45922.1259

Soleimani, R., & Harati, M. J. (2016). Nazariye-ye baznamayi va engare-haye ma’nayi goftman-e resane-yi Amrika az Eslam va Iran [Representation theory and semantic images of Iran and Islam in the US media discourse]. Jostar-haye Siyasi Mo’aser, 6(4), 99–122. https://politicalstudy.ihcs.ac.ir/article_2100.html

Soleimanzade, S., Omidi, A., & Yazdani, E. (2018). Tahlil-e saze engarane-ye Iran harasi dar siyasat-e khareji Amrika dar doran-e pasa barjam [A constructivist analysis of Iranophobia in the U.S. foreign policy in the post-JCPOA era]. Pazhohesh-haye Rahbordi-ye Siyasat, 7(24), 95–124. https://doi.org/10.22054/qpss.2018.19033.1540