Framing the East: An Exploration into Tony Blair’s and George Bush’s Speeches and Orientalism

Orientalism is a theory that is heavily ingrained in Western Society. It is the theory which explains how the West portrays or views the East, or more specifically the Middle East. It is a way to separate or “other” a region. It is a degrading tactic used by the West to look at the Eastern regions differently from things such as religion (Said 2-8). Since the West views the Eastern region as uncertain or different, there is an urgency to label them as bad or unstable (Said 2-8). Western Society becomes uncertain about the East, creating a sense of danger and distress; this is especially relevant during the 2003 Iraq conflict, when it concerns the speeches given by George Bush and Tony Blair. This paper aims to answer the question, “Did Tony Blair’s and George Bush’s speeches have any Orientalism consistency that may be influential with concern to the Iraq crisis?” The hypothesis proceeds that Tony Blair’s and George Bush’s speeches did in fact have an Orientalist tone. The data that was gathered and looked at was through a collection of Tony Blair’s and George Bush’s speeches which started around the 9/11 attacks carried through the start of the United Kingdom's and United States’ participation in the Iraq conflict. The findings support the hypothesis, the language used in their speeches revealed an Orientalism tone.