Rhetorical Work in Soft Power Diplomacy: the U.S.-India 123 Agreement and a Relationship Transformed
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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: RHETORICAL WORK IN SOFT POWER DIPLOMACY: THE U.S.-INDIA 123 AGREEMENT AND A RELATIONSHIP TRANSFORMED M. Karen Walker, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Dissertation Directed by Professor James F. Klumpp Department of Communication My dissertation broadens and deepens our understanding of soft power diplomacy as a creation of constitutive rhetoric. I perform a rhetorical critique of discourses generated during three years’ debate on the U.S.-India 123 Agreement, a watershed moment in bilateral relations. In Chapter 1, I introduce the frames of reference that guided my research, set my project within the literature stream, and lay foundations for my argument. In Chapter 2, I explore how soft power discourse facilitated India’s diplomatic move from outside to inside the nonproliferation regime. I introduce identification and courtship as constructs to explain soft power attraction, presenting narratives of exceptionalism, deliverance and kinship that emerged from discourse. In Chapter 3, I explain the bilateral movement from estranged to engaged as deepened identification and consubstantiation, the achievement of a permanent union. I trace the development of “democracy,” “pluralism,” and “creativity” as terms of ideological commitment and mutual obligation. I also present two additional narratives, the sojourner narrative, which reconstituted the Indian Diaspora’s political identity, and the convergence narrative, which constituted the United States and India as bilateral partners and transformed the U.S.-India 123 Agreement from an idea about nuclear cooperation into the embodiment of a resilient, enduring, and comprehensive partnership. Each narrative drew in substances of identification that reduced recalcitrance, changed perspectives, overcame estrangement, and motivated concerted action. Chapter 4 outlines benefits of my research for rhetoricians, soft power proponents, and diplomacy specialists. For rhetoricians, I enrich our limited study of diplomatic discourse and generate insight into dramatistic theory and criticism. For soft power theorists, my project as a whole gives explanatory force to soft power as a creation of constitutive rhetoric. The consequent reinterpretation of the telos, processes, and resources of soft power makes soft power attraction more transparent. For the diplomatic corps, I encourage new ways of conceptualizing and talking about diplomatic aims and achievements. Chapter 4 thus frames longer-term objectives to further develop the rhetoric of diplomacy, to undertake theory-building in soft power diplomacy, and to integrate soft power diplomacy with diplomatic tradecraft. RHETORICAL WORK IN SOFT POWER DIPLOMACY: THE U.S.-INDIA 123 AGREEMENT AND A RELATIONSHIP TRANSFORMED by M. Karen Walker Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Advisory Committee: Professor James F. Klumpp, Chair Professor Robert N. Gaines Professor Dale Hample Professor R. Gordon Kelly Professor Andrew D. Wolvin TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I Soft Power’s Value to the Rhetoric of Diplomacy ……………………… 1 The Aims of Rhetorical Inquiry in Soft Power Diplomacy …………………………….. 3 Grounding My Research in Professional Experience ………………………....... 4 Situating My Project in Rhetorical Theory and Criticism ……………………… 6 Differentiating Rhetoric’s Persuasive and Constitutive Modes ………………... 8 Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………… 17 Foreign Policy Rhetoric ………………………………………………………... 18 Rhetoric-as-Persuasion ………………………………………………… 18 Rhetoric-as-Constitutive ………………………………………………. 25 Soft Power …………………………………………………………………….. 32 Nye’s Project and Its Evolution ……………………………………….. 33 Reading Nye Holistically ……………………………………………… 36 The New Public Diplomacy …………………………………………… 40 Critical Studies in Soft Power Diplomacy …………………………….. 41 Joining Rhetoric and Soft Power ……………………………………………… 44 Elaborating Soft Power with Rhetorical Sensitivity ………………………………….. 45 The Nature and Projection of National Values ……………………………….. 45 New Actors’ Exercise of Voice and Agency …………………………………. 47 The Framing of Issues on the International Agenda ………………………….. 49 Soft Power’s Rhetorical Force ………………………………………………………... 51 A Partner Country in Bilateral Dialogue ……………………………………... 51 Civil Nuclear Cooperation …………………………………………………… 57 Gathering Discourses Concerning Civil Nuclear Cooperation ………………. 60 Everything, Preferably All at Once ………………………………………………….. 64 Chapter I Notes ………………………………………………………………………. 66 Chapter II: Identification and India’s Move from Outside to Inside …………….. 77 Seizing a Watershed Moment ……………………………………………………….. 78 ii Recognizing Authenticity in Soft Power Diplomacy ……………………………….. 81 The Call for Rhetorical Sensitivity ………………………………………….. 82 Separating Persuasive and Constitutive Forms of Rhetoric ………………… 83 Soft Power as Constitutive Rhetoric ………………………………………… 85 Enacting Constitutive Rhetoric in Courtship ………………………………... 87 Outside to Inside: Changing India’s Place among Cooperating Nuclear States ……. 89 India’s Strategic Autonomy …………………………………………………. 89 Rhetorical Work: Engaging as Equals ……………………………………… 93 Exceptionalism Narrative …………………………………………… 94 Deliverance Narrative ……………………………………………….100 Kinship Narrative ……………………………………………………110 Augmenting Soft Power Theory and Practice through Identification ………………116 Chapter II Notes …………………………………………………………………….120 Chapter III: Rhetorical Enactments: From Estranged to Engaged …………….. 125 The Hard Power Cycle …………………………………………………………….. 127 Sanctions …………………………………………………………………... 128 Export Controls ……………………………………………………………. 131 Breaking Free ……………………………………………………………… 136 Soft Power Diplomacy: Rhetorical Strategies to Achieve Bilateral Unity ……….. 138 Unity of Ideals: A Shared Commitment to Democracy …………………...139 Co-Constructing <Democracy> ……………………………………140 Introducing <Creativity> …………………………………………..145 Unity in Community: A Sojourning ………………………………………152 Unity of Strategic Interests: A Convergence …………………………….. 158 A Relationship Transformed ……………………………………………………... 169 Chapter III Notes …………………………………………………………………. 172 Chapter IV Fulfilling Commitments ………………………………………….. 178 Endorsing the Rhetoric of Diplomacy …………………………………………… 180 The Rhetoric of Diplomacy ……………………………………………….180 iii Deepening Our Knowledge of Dramatism ………………………………..185 Ideographic Criticism ……………………………………………..185 Narrative Criticism ………………………………………………..189 Burkean Criticism ………………………………………………...195 Reinterpreting Soft Power ……………………………………………………… 200 Soft Power as a Constitutive Force …………………………………….. 201 Telos of Soft Power …………………………………………………….. 204 Enhancing Diplomatic Tradecraft ………………………………………. 209 The Nature of Power ……………………………………………. 209 Lessons in Diplomacy …………………………………………………... 212 Democracy is Constructed and Enacted …………………........... 212 Moments of Transformation ……………………………………. 215 Decentering the Diplomat ………………………………………. 217 Chapter IV Notes ……………………………………………………………….. 221 References ……………………………………………………………………… 226 Rhetoric ………………………………………………………………… 226 India ……………………………………………………………………. 232 Soft Power and Related Themes ……………………………………….. 234 Additional Works Consulted ……………………………………………238 iv Chapter 1 Soft Power’s Value to the Rhetoric of Diplomacy During a visit with one of my nephews, then in middle school, he asked what I was writing about. I told him that I was writing about how countries become friends. A simple answer to a complex question. More accurately, I am writing about how diplomatic discourse can create a permanent and durable bond of friendship between countries that were formerly strangers to one another. More than a friendship of convenience, or a friendship based in “the enemy of my enemy,” diplomatic discourse possesses the capacity to transform two nation-states’ strained relationship into a durable and resilient partnership. Bilateral diplomacy achieved such a transformation between the United States and India. The friendship between the two countries had waxed and waned since India’s founding, dependent on geopolitical circumstance, domestic politics, and the degree of personal affinity that existed between the heads of state.1 The sea change in bilateral relations took place during the administration of President George W. Bush, as the United States and India repositioned themselves from estranged to engaged democracies. Several factors contributed to this change, including India’s economic renaissance, joint security concerns in combating global terrorism, and the United States’ humanitarian response to the Indian Ocean tsunami. Based solely on these factors, the bilateral relationship was dependent on the two countries’ mutual affinity and good will. A more permanent bond could not be set while India remained isolated from the 1 community of nation-states allowed to cooperate in the development of civilian nuclear energy and advanced science and technology endeavors. At the end of the Bush Administration, the United States and India signed a U.S.- India “123 Agreement,” which refers to Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act.2 The 123 Agreement, described as a watershed moment in U.S.-India relations, was a unique and novel element of the bilateral partnership. The perception of South Asian affairs experts and the U.S.-India business community was that the future of the U.S.- India partnership was allied with the Agreement and its implementation. After decades of sanctions and export controls failed to persuade India to sign the Nuclear