The Peacekeeping Mission: Bringing Stability to a Chaotic Scene

This article examines the military intervention called the peacekeeping mission. This article argues that this particular intervention is qualitatively different than war and crisis rhetoric. A tentative model of the rhetoric of peacekeeping that involves 2 elements is proffered. First, it is found that peacekeeping mission rhetors emphasize a chaotic scene that drives American action. Second, and perhaps most important, American intervention is characterized as facilitating security to allow larger political, economic, and cultural stability to take hold within a particular state. Further, peacekeeping mission rhetors highlight the constraints of the intervention to make it more palpable to the American public. Exploring peacekeeping mission rhetoric has implications related to presidential justifications for the use of military force and U.S. foreign policy in general.