Conspiracy theory and American foreign policy

Abstract

Conspiracies abound. States regularly plot in secret, together and against each other. Terrorist organisations are, by their very nature, based on conspiracies. This is one reason why the threat of conspiracies has often loomed large in foreign policy discourses. Yet allegations about the secret operation of international political power are often thought of as paranoid. Of all the ways an idea can be discredited, the label ‘conspiracy’ ranks amongst the most effective. Images of delusion and irrationality come thick and fast. Which conspiracies are real? Which allegations are irrational? And who decides? The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role conspiracy discourse played in American foreign policy during the so-called War on Terror decade. In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, high profile foreign policy commentators claimed that Arab-Muslim resentment towards America was provoked by conspiracy theories about American power. This connection subsequently made its way into numerous US Government policy documents and initiatives. Examples here include the National Security Strategy and the National Strategy for Combatting Terrorism of 2006, and State Department public diplomacy programs tasked with ‘debunking’ anti-American conspiracy theories and misinformation. I argue that the link between anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories had a specific political effect in this context: it delegitimized criticism of American power, buttressed particular foreign policy practices, and secured an image of America as benign and misunderstood in its international political interactions. My thesis contributes to international relations literature investigating the processes through which legitimacy is produced in foreign policy discourses.