1. Introduction Part I. The Theory and Methodology of Discourse Analysis 2. Discourse analysis, identity and foreign policy 3. Beyond the Other: analyzing the complexity of identity 4. Intertextualizing foreign policy: genres, authority and knowledge 5. Research designs: asking questions and choosing texts Part II. A Discourse Analysis of the Western Debate on the Bosnian War 6. The basic discourses in the Western debate over Bosnia 7. Humanitarian responsibility versus "lift and strike" 8. Writing the past, predicting the future 9. The failure of the West? The evolution of the Genocide discourse and the ethnics of inaction 10. Conclusion

Lene Hansen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

This important text offers a full and detailed account of how to use discourse analysis to study foreign policy. It provides a poststructuralist theory of the relationship between identity and foreign policy and an in-depth discussion of the methodology of discourse analysis.
Part I offers a detailed discussion of the concept of identity, the intertextual relationship between official foreign policy discourse and oppositional and media discourses and of the importance of genres for authors' ability to establish themselves as having authority and knowledge. Lene Hansen devotes particular attention to methodology and provides explicit directions for how to build discourse analytical research designs
Part II applies discourse analytical theory and methodology in a detailed analysis of the Western debate on the Bosnian war. This analysis includes a historical genealogy of the Western construction of the Balkans as well as readings of the official British and American policies, the debate in the House of Commons and the US Senate, Western media representations, academic debates and travel writing and autobiography.
Providing an introduction to discourse analysis and critical perspectives on international relations, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of international relations, discourse analysis and research methodology.