Abstract

In a high-profile speech at the 47th Munich Security Conference in February 2011, David Cameron indicted “the doctrine of state multiculturalism,” advocating instead a policy of “muscular liberalism.” The Munich Security Conference is an annual event at which heads of state, military and security experts, diplomats, and senior politicians from over seventy countries gather to discuss international policy on security. On the face of it, this is an unlikely venue for a UK prime minister to set out his stall on cultural diversity at home. But there is a thread running through his speech that ties together security policy and social policy. This article outlines the speech, analysing and discussing its logic and rhetoric. It seeks to unpack the subtext regarding Islam and Muslims in Britain today and to characterize Cameron's “voice.” Ultimately, the article argues that the speech evinces an almost unbearable sense of insecurity in a changing world, a world that is spinning out of control of the West, leaving the West unsure of itself and Britain unsure of its place.

Highlights

  • Context and ContentThe Munich Security Conference is an annual event at which heads of state, military and security experts, diplomats, and senior politicians from over seventy countries gather to discuss international policy on security

  • In a high-profile speech at the 47th Munich Security Conference in February 2011, David Cameron indicted “the doctrine of state multiculturalism,” advocating instead a policy of “muscular liberalism.” The Munich Security Conference is an annual event at which heads of state, military and security experts, diplomats, and senior politicians from over seventy countries gather to discuss international policy on security

  • The same could be said about the speech that David Cameron, prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party, gave at the 47th Munich Security Conference in Germany, February 2011

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Summary

Context and Content

The Munich Security Conference is an annual event at which heads of state, military and security experts, diplomats, and senior politicians from over seventy countries gather to discuss international policy on security. When we look closely at the text, we see that beyond the topic of “terrorism” (the topic on which Cameron says he wants to focus) it is Islam and that which pertains to Islam – that which is precisely “Islamic” – that is his focal point Having uttered his opening words, Cameron straightaway interrupts himself with an aside in which he defends the fact that Britain is holding a strategic defence and security review, rejecting any suggestion that Britain might be “retreating from an activist role in the world.”. He reminds his audience that Britain has “the fourth largest military defence budget in the world” and explains that the intention is to concentrate more on “conflict prevention and building a much more flexible army.”. As indicated, I have used Cameron’s own words

The Threat of Terrorism
The Root of the Problem
The Question of Identity
Defeating the Threat
The Bottom Line
Findings
Analysis and Discussion
Full Text
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