Rhetorical Rise and Demise of "Democracy" in Russian Political Discourse, Volume 1

David Cratis Williams is Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Florida Atlantic University. His scholarship focuses on argumentation, rhetorical theory, and criticism; he is a recognized authority on Kenneth Burke. His work on Russian political discourse began during a meeting in Russia in January 1992.Marilyn J. Young is the Wayne C. Minnick Professor of Communication Emerita at Florida State University. Her research has focused on political argument with an emphasis on the development of political rhetoric and argument in the former Soviet Union, particularly Russia. She remains an active scholar in retirement.Michael K. Launer is Professor Emeritus of Russian at Florida State University. In 1987 he interpreted for the first group of Soviet scientists visiting the US following Chernobyl. A State Department certified technical interpreter, he supported Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy assistance programs through 2012.

“In bringing dramatically different kinds of scholarship (lengthy rhetorical critiques, technical analyses, and Op-Eds) together, the book highlights the authors' versatility and commitment to reaching multiple audiences with their work.”— Gordon R. Mitchell, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, Journal of Argumentation in Context

• Table of Contents AcknowledgementsList of Interviews and Personal CommunicationsNote to ReadersPrefaceIntroduction to Volume One. Image and Reality: The Declining Role of Evidence in Public DiscoursePart One: Kal and Cracks in the Rhetorical WallRoute R-20—Terry Graves IllustrationTakahashi—Novosti Satellite MapOgarkov Double Loop Map—The New York TimesMap Credits1. Did the United States Suppress Ground-to-Air Communications?2. KAL 007 and the Superpowers: An International Argument3. The KAL Tapes4. BCAS Correspondence: “Flight 007: Was There Foul Play?”5. The Need for Evaluative Criteria: Conspiracy Argument Revisited6. Soviet Media Tactics and the Body Politic: Prevention and Treatment of Communicable Diseases7. When the Shoe Is on the Other Foot: Comparative Treatments of the KAL 007 and Iran Air Shootdowns8. Of Mighty Mice and Meek Men: Contextual Reconstruction of the Iranian Airbus Shootdown9. “007”—Conspiracy or Accident?10. Flight 00711. Carlos the Jackal Attacks RFE/RL!Part Two: Chernobyl, Eco-Nationalism, and Loss of Rhetorical ControlThe Original Sarcophagus (1989)The Interior Access Door to Unit 4—Укрытие (1989)A Billboard at the Rovno Nuclear Station (1996)New Secure Confinement (2019)Photo Credits12. Chernobyl in the Soviet Media: Unintentional Ironies, Unprecedented Events13. Redefining Glasnost in the Soviet Media: The Recontextualization of Chernobyl14. Chernobyl: From the Ashes a New Society?15. Nuclear Power in the USSR16. Civilian Nuclear Power in the Commonwealth of Independent States: A Case of Cognitive Dissonance17. Soviet News Media: Uncertainty in the Throes of Change18. Nuclear Power and Ecological Debates in the Soviet Press, Mid-1988 to Mid-198919. The Final Days: The Development of Argumentative Discourse in the Soviet Union20. Ukraine Nuclear Power Struggles for Survival21. Nonrational Assessment of Risk and the Development of Civilian Nuclear Power22. Ukraine, Russia, and the Question of Nuclear Safety23. Soviet Bureaucracy and Nuclear Safety24. Review of Two Books by David R. Marples25. Review of Plutopia26. Review of Plokhy, Chernobyl27. Pseudo-Science and Potemkin-History28. Confronting Climate Change: Assessing the Role of Nuclear Power AfterwordIndexBibliography