"These are not just slogans": Assertions of friendship between states
In: Journal of language and politics, Band 21, Heft 5, S. 653-674
ISSN: 1569-9862
Abstract
The goal of this study is to capture the meaning of interstate friendship from the perspective of international
actors and to underline the benefits of analyzing speech acts as a tool for revealing the relational scripts that guide interstate
relations. Analysis of the discourse surrounding 215 assertions of friendship made by statespersons in a variety of diplomatic
encounters and cultural contexts allows us to identify the factors that state actors articulate to develop friendly interstate
relations, the practices expected from a friendly state, and the goals attributed to practices of friendship. In the Conclusion we
discuss the differences between interpersonal and interstate friendships, and how the speech act of friendship plays a part in the
construction of interstate relations.