Mica Rosenberg

I am delighted to announce the publication of the latest volume in my growing list in #rhetoric and #rhetoricalstudies, DELIBERATING WAR by Patricia Roberts-Miller of UT Austin: This book argues that treating politics as war derails essential democratic processes, including deliberation and policy argumentation, in complicated ways. “Politics is war” is not always just a figure of speech, but often a sincere expression of how people see disagreement—they mean it literally—and they use it to evade the responsibilities of rhetoric. This book takes the metaphor seriously. Using a series of case studies ranging from the 432 BCE “Debate at Sparta” to Bill O’Reilly’s recent invention of a “War on Christmas,” Deliberating War illustrates pathologies of deliberation that arise when a community understands itself to be at political war. This book identifies recurrent rhetorical strategies that constrain or even effectively prohibit deliberation, such as deflecting, reframing, threat inflation, appealing to paired terms, claiming moral license, radicalizing a base. In short, what seems to be an effective solution to an immediate rhetorical problem—using hyperbole and demagoguery to persuade people to adopt a specific leader or policy—is a trap that prevents democratic practices of compromise, deliberation, fairness, reciprocity. Unhappily, threat inflation—even when well-intentioned--At some point, hyperbolic rhetoric becomes threat inflation, and then that inflated threat becomes the premise of policies, both foreign and domestic. And then agreeing as to the obvious existential threat posed by the Other and uniting behind the obvious policy solution is a necessary sign of being on the side of Good. Once communities become persuaded that they are in an apocalyptic battle between Good and Evil, politics as war can quickly become real war—often with far-reaching and catastrophic consequences. I'm always looking for interesting monographs and edited collections in political rhetoric, so if you have a book project in this area, I'd love to chat! #rhetoric #communicationstudies #politicalrhetoric #debate

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Important articles to read in this edition.

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Join us tomorrow for this timely discussion about the upcoming RNC and DNC -- "Unconventional Conventions."

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Justice Department Disrupts Covert Russian Government-Sponsored Foreign Malign Influence Operations Targeting Audiences in the United States and Elsewhere: Folks as we have been informing and U.S. law enforcement accouncing, the malign influence operations, strategic corruption, and disinformation campaigns against democracies by China, Russia, Iran, et al, are very real and serious intended to foment greater chaos, sow division, finance insecurity, and weaken the United States, EU, and NATO allies. As alleged below in an unsealed affidavit, the Russian companies Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technology (Structura), and ANO Dialog, operating under the direction and control of the Russian Presidential Administration, and in particular First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, used these domains, among others, to covertly spread Russian government propaganda with the aim of reducing international support for Ukraine, bolstering pro-Russian policies and interests, and influencing voters in U.S. and foreign elections, including the U.S. 2024 Presidential Election.  https://lnkd.in/ejzwkGx2 #Russia #Kremlin #China #Iran #maligninfluence #politicalinterference #GPC #irregularwarfare #grayzone #corruption #moneylaundering #illicittrade #threatintelligence #strategiccorruption #disinformation #truthpollution #cybercrime

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Anti-democratic forces often co-opt those with vast wealth. That is starting to happen in America, creating a two-tiered economy of those tight with politicians and those trying to run real businesses. One casualty will be press freedom. My analysis:

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🇺🇸 America Votes 2024 🇺🇸 💡 GMF experts analyze the impact of the 2024 US election on transatlantic policy debates and offer insights into evolving threats to US democracy. Read Now 🔽 https://bit.ly/4ehyNlQ

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➡️ U.S. foreign policy has turned in a widening gyre in the last quarter century, as one president after the other—Bush, Obama, Trump, and Joe Biden—brought very different approaches to the White House. Allies and adversaries alike began to discount the commitments of each president, given the likelihood that his policies would be reversed or dramatically modified by his successor. ➡️ Although Jacksonian national populism and Jeffersonian isolationism have their legitimate place in American foreign policy debates, neither can fully address today’s challenges. Another historical school of U.S. foreign policy, Hamiltonian pragmatism, is better suited to the crises of the contemporary world. ➡️ Based on the political philosophy of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father and first secretary of the treasury, this school offers a grand strategy that actively promotes U.S. commerce, American patriotism, and enlightened realism in foreign affairs.

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https://lnkd.in/dNQp8S2A "Given the Conservatives’ support for national sovereignty and distaste for political utopias, we might imagine that they would be exclusively hostile to these kinds of radical ideas. That was not the case. While there were those who bemoaned these ‘brave new worlders’, others were more sympathetic and put forward bold ideas of the future. Alongside support for European political integration and a revived League of Nations, some even supported the most utopian idea of the era: world government."

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📢 Call for Papers: Special Issue of Res Rhetorica We're seeking submissions for "Mediated Rhetoric of Recent Conflicts," exploring the rhetorical dimensions of modern conflict in media. We welcome submissions on: - Geopolitical divisions and diplomatic tensions - Radical nationalism, chauvinism, and supremacy - Imagery and semiotics in conflicts and terrorism - Exclusionary and discriminatory discourses - Social protest, religious dissent, cultural clashes - Conflict rhetoric strategies - Media manipulation and disinformation - Media practices amplifying conflicts - Rhetoric of hate speech and contempt - Language-based exclusion and dissent - Resilience and communication breakdown strategies More details here: ​​https://lnkd.in/dSgRqjGr. Submit your paper & contribute to this important discussion! #CallForPapers #ResRhetorica #ConflictRhetoric #MediaAnalysis #Innovation

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920%!? Wow. American graphite producers/refiners want 920% tariffs on US graphite imports from China.

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My deep dive into Venezuela's elections this Sunday - during which President Nicolás Maduro is "highly likely" to use internet restrictions in a desperate bid to hold power. Where is this 'digital authoritarianism' most rampant? And how have internet shutdowns exacerbated Venezuela's flailing economy - at massive cost to its people? Words and maps by me. Additional visualisations from Surfshark and analysis from Lina Survila & Laura Petrone.

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Given the conversation going in journalism circles, I want to share briefly what I value about the The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Here we go: * OCCRP develops reporters and conducts investigations in some of the most repressive places on earth. I personally have benefited from the local reporting and expertise of journalists that OCCRP trained and supported FIRST. Those journalists then go on to do critical work with other global networks. When their security is at risk, it is often OCCRP that takes care of them. * OCCRP invests in technology that allows thousands of journalists around the world to access and analyze documents and data in ways that often match the capabilities of the well-resourced actors journalists investigate. They open source their tech and allow other journalistic outlets and organizations to benefit from it. https://aleph.occrp.org/ * When it comes to reporting on organized crime and corruption, there is hardly a journalistic match to OCCRP. This is not a sexy area of coverage, it is not well funded or understood by private donors, and it is incredibly dangerous, needless to say. But OCCRP has stuck with it, developed state-of-the-art methodologies, and sparked change around the world with its reporting. * Finally, OCCRP is not a single person or an abstract entity, it’s hundreds of individual journalists and dozens of nonprofit investigative centers around the world that didn't exist 20 years ago and that now hold the line day in and day out with their methodic and courageous reporting in the public interest. Some of those journalists have been killed because of their reporting. Others continue to report in exile. Feel free to share why you value this network or any of their center members or journalists. They deserve to know that we stand with them. PS: Just in case you are wondering, yes, I think that journalists are not exempt from being investigated if those investigations are merited and well conducted, without malicious or vindictive ends.

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This #USelection symbolizes an American Zeitenwende, highlighting the ongoing erosion of democracy under its current socioeconomic system. A compelling must-read on the realities unfolding in this country, written by my esteemed colleague in law at Columbia University Professor Pistor: 👉

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"Questions were recently raised by a group of journalists about the amount and influence of US government funding for the nonprofit investigative newsroom, the The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Global Investigative Journalism Network continues to support the independent and transparent investigative work that OCCRP has produced since its founding in 2007 and notes that OCCRP and its associated newsrooms are GIJN members in good standing. (We also note that GIJN Board members who are associated with OCCRP recused themselves from the writing of this statement.) OCCRP has done groundbreaking work that has revealed government and corporate corruption around the world and in the US. Its cross-border, award-winning investigations have tracked money laundering and other misdeeds by oligarchs, autocrats, banks, and corporations, sparking multiple regulatory reforms. OCCRP has been an active collaborator with other GIJN members. OCCRP has consistently disclosed its sources of funds, which has included numerous foundations, individual donors, and US government money. It has remained an independent voice in investigative journalism. GIJN sees no evidence of influence or pressure from its funders on OCCRP’s work nor evidence that its editorial content has been guided or changed in any way. We also note many nonprofit newsrooms throughout the world receive a combination of funding from government and private sources. GIJN members are expected to disclose their major funders. While discussions and debate on funding can be enlightening and provocative, the key guidelines for investigative newsrooms, both for profit and nonprofit, are transparency and diversity of revenue and maintaining a firewall between the newsroom and funders, advertisers and investors. Those practices ensure editorial independence, accuracy, fairness, and context upon which newsrooms are ultimately judged. At this time, GIJN calls for investigative journalists worldwide to unify and cooperate. Press freedom and journalists are increasingly under vicious attack for their truth-telling and threatened daily through regulation and legislation, prosecution, imprisonment, and physical violence. During this critical moment, investigative journalists need to stand together and renew their efforts on behalf of citizens and democracy. Only through unassailable journalism and deep cooperation with one another they will be able to resist government and corporate forces that seek to destroy them and their work."

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My latest article, based on input from 10 leading opponents of abortion: https://lnkd.in/enn3fiEU

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