Deconstructing the Ideological Frame of President Vladimir Putin’s Rhetoric: A Socio-Cognitive Analysis

This paper investigates the world of politics, focusing on the ideological frames that President Vladimir Putin used in his exclusive interview on NBC News in December 2024. The paper aims to explore Putin’s framing of Russia's political agenda and policies and investigate the strategies he employs to deconstruct his ideological frames. The data is limited to the transcript of President Vladimir Putin’s interview with the host Keir Simmons on NBC News in which three extracts are analyzed. The analysis is carried out through the qualitative content analysis approach based on an eclectic model including Van Dijk’s (2006) Socio-Cognitive Theory, Fairclough's (1995) Three-dimensional model of discourse, and Goffman’s (1974) Frame Theory. The paper concluded that President Vladimir Putin uses “Us” versus “Them” as a cognitive framing tool to justify his foreign and domestic policies. Moreover, he positions Russia as a stabilizing actor rejecting interference and calls for legality, reasonableness, and cooperation highlighting mutual benefit dialogues and compromise among countries.