Rhetorical Analysis Of Ambassador Power

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The former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Samantha Power, gave a speech on January 17, 2017 on the threat of Russia to the United States. There has been underlying tension between the U.S. and Russia for decades, but there was a period of cooperation between the two nations. Currently the tensions are rising again. The accusations of Russia interfering with the United States’ most recent election, along with other actions done by the Russian government, has put the U.S. on high alert again. The United States has shown signs of both the liberalist and realist state of minds when dealing with international relations and the dilemma Russian has put the United States in. Ambassador Power overwhelmingly uses the theory of liberalism …show more content…

Viewing Ambassador Power’s statements through both the lens of liberalism and realism allows one to better understand the policies and ideas which she presents throughout her speech. The theoretical tradition of liberalism, specifically the neoliberal framing of it, assists in clarifying why it is necessary, in Ambassador Power’s mind, that states both cooperate and create a shared understanding of expectations by abiding to rules which have previously been defined and outlined. Ambassador Power argument shows that it is imperative that states join and posture to prevent Russia from taking any further actions, specifically ones which may jeopardize the security of the United States. Realism explains how the pursuit of power dictates the behaviors of states and the policies which they push. Given that there is a net amount of power, the prevention of another state, in this instance Russia, from gaining power inherently increases the power of all other states while at the same time escalating the security of said states. Conflict resolution in the United States may be achieved by the cooperation of states, opening up proper channels for information to flow, and through the prevention of Russia taking any further action which may cause harm. While the institutions and rules put into place do not explicitly assist states in achieving their respective self-interests, through cooperation these states, such as the United States, increase their security and chance of