This essay examines the persuasive side of language in a speech given by Senator Barack Obama on Super Tuesday in February 2008. It studies how Senator Obama utilizes language to convince and persuade his audience. This is done from an Aristotelian point of view, meaning that the study focuses foremost on how the senator’s word choices relate to Aristotle’s three means of persuasion, ethos, pathos and logos. Those basic guiding principles are relevant to use since Aristotle’s work on the subject of rhetoric is still today one of the most relevant works in that field. The analysis is basically performed through personal observations guided by previous studies, within the frame of Aristotelian rhetoric. The results show how Senator Obama enforces the three means of persuasion through language and how it can be considered persuasive. The study might add to rhetoric studies from a linguistic perspective since it reaches a better understanding of language used in the field of politics, where rhetoric is a prominent component.

This dissertation analyzes the discourse of Obama’s speeches to argue my thesis that Obama won election by virtue of his rhetorical speechmaking but more specifically, his ability to manage race in those speeches. I define and refer to Obama’s rhetorical handling of race in his speechmaking throughout the campaign as the rhetoric of race management. By rhetorical race management, I mean the strategic use of race (or obfuscation of race) in one’s discourse to manage or affect the audience’s beliefs or opinions of the listener. From a communication-based standpoint, understanding how race operated in this election requires us to examine the history of racism in the United States as well as critical scholarly work on the subject. Understanding how Obama was able to manage race in his rhetoric is necessary because it forces us to perhaps reexamine and scrutinize the 2008 Presidential election more carefully for several reasons. As rhetorical scholars, if we are in the business of understanding how our icons and politicians can potentially manipulate and use our rhetorical signs and symbols against us—or in spite of us--it is in our best interest to understand why the process occurred and why we allowed it to happen. I suggest that Obama’s deliberate attempt to weave ideological constructs like patriotism and the American Dream into his campaign strategy obfuscated his representation as the marginalized “other” and created a new political identity that has little to do with marginalization. By examining the theories of scholars like Kenneth Burke, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Walter Fisher, and Dana Cloud, I outline how race and racism historically operated in our political elections, from both a sociopolitical, or quantitative perspective, as well as a critical perspective. By using a multimethod analysis, we are better positioned to understand how Barack Obama successfully played the race card in the Presidential Election of 2008. More importantly, I argue in my conclusion why his use of rhetorical race management, was absolutely necessary if he were to become the first African-American president in a historically racist country. / text

Rhetorical skills are a very important part of political discourse. Being able to persuade an audience in a speech is central for politicians. This study aims to investigate how the personal pronouns I, you, we and they are used strategically in Barack Obama’s speeches. Previous research suggests that certain personal pronouns can enable politicians to take on different identities, which in turn gives them an opportunity to distance themselves from problematic issues and also invoke specific ideological ideas on their audience.  The study analyzes personal pronouns by the means of the co-text and the broader social context. It is found that I, you and we are used both to enhance the ‘self’ and portray the opposition in a negative way, while they focused on portraying the opposition negatively. However, the fact that politicians have speechwriters can be problematic when drawing conclusions of the pronominal choice.

Il presente lavoro di ricerca indaga i rapporti tra la disciplina delle Relazioni Internazionali (RI) e la tradizione filosofica americana del Pragmatismo (PP), focalizzandosi sui possibili contributi che quest’ultimo può fornire alle RI, guardando sia allo sviluppo del dibattito paradigmatico della disciplina sia alla dimensione delle politiche. In particolare, dopo aver fornito un quadro generale dei principi fondamentali del pragmatismo e averne evidenziato la positiva influenza sullo sviluppo della disciplina delle Relazioni Internazionali, il lavoro di ricerca si concentra sul tema del pragmatismo applicato alla dimensione della politica estera, qui concepita come sottolivello delle RI multifattoriale, multidisciplinare e nel quale l’agente/attore specifico assume un ruolo centrale. In linea con questa impostazione, la ricerca si concentra sull’elaborazione della politica estera del 44° Presidente americano, Barack Obama, mettendone in luce gli explanans, la cui applicazione viene poi testata nell’ambito di due casi-studio particolari: le relazioni degli Stati Uniti con Cuba, da un lato, e Israele, dall’altro. Attraverso l’analisi della letteratura esistente, in gran parte piuttosto recente, di documenti ufficiali rilasciati dall’Amministrazione Obama e dai discorsi ufficiali del Presidente stesso, il lavoro mira a dimostrare l’effettiva importanza del Pragmatismo sia per gli studiosi delle RI che per i policy-makers. / This research work aims at addressing the relations between the discipline of International Relations (IR) and the American philosophical tradition of Pragmatism (PP), investigating the possible contributions PP can provide IR with, both at a theoretical and a policy level. In particular, once given an overview of the basic principles of PP and the positive inputs it can provide to the discipline of the IR, the research work addresses the issue of whether pragmatism can direct and explain the formulation of a foreign policy (FP) – conceived as the sublevel of IR which is actor-specific, agent-oriented, multifactorial, multilevel, and multidisciplinary. In order to do so, an interpretative actor perspective is adopted, and the foreign policy of former U.S. President Barack Obama is analyzed, focusing on the explanans of his foreign policy making and vision. Their application is then tested on two case-studies: U.S.-Cuba relations and U.S.-Israel relations, in the timeframe of the Obama Presidency. Through the analysis of the existing literature – some of which quite recent, official documents released by the Obama Administrations and speeches given by the President, the research work tries to demonstrate that PP can indeed constitute a useful tool-kit for both IR scholars and policy-makers.

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In 2012, President Barack Obama used prosecutorial discretion to initiate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that deferred deportation and provided employment authorization for a two-year renewable period to undocumented immigrant persons that came to the U.S. as children. Under former President Donald Trump’s administration, DACA was rescinded in 2017. A review of the literature suggests this is the only study to explore the perceived impact of a policy shift in DACA status, given the critical time of interviews conducted from April 2016 to October 2018. Thus, substantially advancing the literature, qualitative data on a diverse group (N=10) of young adult DACA beneficiaries revealed positive and negative impacts. The sample included 60% currently gainfully employed, 40% attending college—while 80% had experienced emotional distress by having an unauthorized legal status and facing obstacles to pursuing higher education. Of note, 40% rated themselves as currently relatively healthy, while 60% indicated having experienced a decline in their physical or mental health since entering the United States. As significant sources of stress, 90% had experienced anxiety centered around having to wait to renew their DACA status and having to pay for their status renewals. Given the rescinding of the DACA program in 2017, many were ill-prepared, as 90% had never experienced being undocumented without a DACA status as an adult in the United States. The main body of qualitative data generated six categories that encompassed 51 emergent themes: 1-Participants’ health trajectory across their lifespan; 2-Participants’ experiences of barriers to seeking care and having their health and mental health needs addressed; 3-Participants Living at the Intersection of Contemporary Immigration; 4-The impact of other family members’ immigration status; 5-From enjoying benefits of the DACA program, to having a false sense of normalcy, to feeling ambivalence, and experiencing detriments; and, 6-Potential DACA policy shifts and anticipated impacts ranging from negative (fear, loss, suffering) to positive (relief). These six broad categories suggest how, despite the benefits of their DACA status, substantial barriers and sources of anxiety and stress still impacted the lives of the young adults and their families. Implications of the findings are discussed.

This diploma thesis deals with the topic of the U. S. Peace Corps and its possible areas of improvement in the third millennium. The aim of the thesis is to research available documents and to determine and analyze possible areas of improvement during the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The thesis focuses on African continent with regards to the Peace Corps presence in individual host countries. The main research questions of this thesis are: "What are the possible areas of improvement within the U. S. Peace Corps organization in the third millennium?", and "Is the agency and the political debates concerning the reforms of the agency reflecting experiences and feedback of the volunteers?" The answers to these questions are sought with the help of research in documents as well as with the help of the analysis of author's one hundred collected surveys from current and former volunteers. Moreover, the areas of the Peace Corps training, recruitment, and support of the volunteers are researched in this thesis alongside with the Washington bureaucracy, mission of the agency, safety and security of the volunteers, sexual assault response, and whistleblower reforms. There are four chapters in the thesis and several subchapters. The first chapter elaborates on the origins of the Peace...

This thesis submits broader understanding of George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies in terms of their Middle Eastern policy, in particular the issue of Iranian nuclear policy. The main interest lies in an intention to conclude, which particular circumstances led the American governments to rethink their position towards the Iranian nuclear program, bearing in mind changes which took place in security, economic and foreign policy interests of the United States. The first chapter describes the theoretical framework upon which the entire thesis is based upon. The second chapter provides a short review on the MENA region, describing the most visible factors and issues form the very last years of the second administration of Barack Obama. The third chapter is based upon the research of the Iranian position in the MENA region, its potential, and what possibilities the U.S. government posses in order to contain Iran from spreading its influence. The next chapter deals with an issue of nuclear terrorism and its connections towards Iran, evaluation of possible nuclear terrorist menace and possibilities of so called "Dirty Bombs" usage. The fifth chapter is based upon the research of the first presidency of George W. Bush and the policies which were implemented after the terrorist attacks on 11...

Topics associated with the United States' foreign policy towards the European Union have become increasingly intense in expert discussions since the turn of the millennium. This is due to several factors, primarily including the strength of the two clusters, on two shores of the Atlantic ocean. The work on the topic of transatlantic relations is divided into four chapters, where the first chapter deals with the theory of regionalism, the historical development of relations between the United States and the European Union, and the European Community. The conclusion of the chapter then anchors foreign policy actors from the US perspective. However, the thesis aim is to compare two US presidents and their relations with the EU. The selected presidents are Barack Obama and Donald Trump, when the 2012-2018 period is a crucial time for work. The aim of the thesis is to find answers to several questions, when the main one is whether and what difference is in the approach of Barack Obama and Donald Trump towards the EU. The paper sets out several criteria by its research, which will then be compared from the perspective of two presidents in order to show whether and how the policies of two consecutive presidents differ in EU relations.

Transformation of the US Foreign Policy Diploma thesis "Transformation of the US Foreign Policy" consists changes and tranformations in the US foreign policy connected with alternations of president's administratives. Especially with the alternation in 2001, when Goerge W. Bush supplied Bill Clinton and than with 2009 when Barack Obama became president of the USA. My essential resource were special books about US foreign policy. Thereafter books from the field of theory of international relations and finally I used internet resources as special articles or manifests records. Diploma thesis is focused on foreign and security policy. Arise and progress of the USA shaped American identity. Hypothesis of work is connected with issue that even conducts and acts of administratives could be different, policy always following this American self-identity.