Rhetorical Invention of America's National Security State

Marouf Hasian Jr. is professor in the Department of Communication, University of Utah. Sean Lawson is associate professor in the Department of Communication, University of Utah. Megan D. McFarlane earned her doctorate from the Department of Communication, University of Utah.

While a number of recent books have focused on the rhetorics and technologies of homeland security, few have so skillfully shown that the “national security state” is not just the work of politicians and intelligence agencies—it has also relied on the complicity of pundits, scientific experts, hackers, academics, military bureaucrats, and everyday citizens. This valuable book provides an insightful, blow-by-blow account of how the Global War on Terror has crept into the American homeland.

• Chapter One: The Rhetorical Origins of America’s National Security StateChapter Two: Military “Science” and the Legitimation of Preventive War, Mass Surveillance, and Kill/Capture CounterterrorismChapter Three: The Department of Defense, the CIA, and the Legitimation of America’s “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”Chapter Four: Remembering the Rise of America’s Special Forces and the Rhetorical Force Behind the Navy SEAL’s raid on Bin Laden’s AbbottabadChapter Five: Cyber War, Threat Inflation, and the Securitization of Everyday LifeChapter Six: The “Stress” of Remotely Pilot Aircraft Crews and the Biopolitical Normalization of America’s “Precise” Drone Attacks OverseasChapter Seven: Edward Snowden, Agent Provocateur, and Overreactions of the NSAChapter Eight: Anticipating the Future Rhetorical Trajectories of America’s National Security State