Description
This paper uses discourse analysis to examine how the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 has been framed in American political discourse. As recent scholarship has shown (Hall 2022, 2024), perceptions of ‘winning’ and ‘losing’ in the War on Terror have had important consequences for U.S. ontological (in)security and the political standing of American presidents. These narratives, as politically contested constructs, shape the public understanding of America's place in the world. Studying major political speeches, congressional debates, and media content, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of how ‘Afghanistan’ has been constructed during the Joe Biden presidency, particularly in terms of the ‘lessons’ that have been put forward by politicians and commentators. Much like the important ‘lessons’ of the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, these debates shape American self-perceptions and foreign policy outlook. This is especially so for the second term of a Donald Trump presidency, given Trump’s role in the Doha Agreement and his later criticism of the Biden administration’s withdrawal.
