A Strategic Narrative Construction of the Trump Administration on Iran’s Nuclear Program

Year 2022, Volume: 31 Issue: 2, 195 - 216, 08.11.2022

Yusuf Adıgüzel , İsmail Akdoğan

https://doi.org/10.26650/siyasal.2022.31.1067268

Abstract

This study mainly aims to explore the strategic narrative that the Trump administration constructed about Iran’s nuclear program. The study tries to identify what kind of strategic narratives the Trump administration constructed during the period of the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal and its re-imposition of sanctions against Iran. For this purpose, the study was conducted by analyzing the official statements, remarks and speeches of U.S. foreign policy-makers, which make up the primary data source of the study. The qualitative method was adopted for data survey and collection, and the analysis of the obtained data was analyzed through the technique of qualitative content analysis. By using the qualitative method, the paper seeks to ascertain meaning construction in the discourse of foreign policy-makers. During the research process, it was observed that the Trump administration utilized strategic narratives on three different levels: issue narratives, identity narratives, and system narratives. The research concludes that the Trump administration employed the strategic narrative as a tool to legitimize its foreign policy decisions derived by the “maximum pressure” strategy that aimed to restrict Iran’s increasing power capacity and to reduce its regional influence in the Middle East.

Keywords

Strategic Narrative, the Nuclear Deal, Sanctions, Trump Administration, Iran, Stratejik Anlatı, Nükleer Anlaşma, Trump Yönetimi, ABD, İran

Trump Yönetiminin İran’ın Nükleer Programına Yönelik Stratejik Anlatı İnşası

Abstract

Bu çalışma, özü itibariyle Trump yönetiminin (2017-2021) İran’ın nükleer programı hakkında inşa ettiği stratejik anlatıyı incelemektedir. Çalışmanın temel amacı, ABD’nin nükleer anlaşmadan çekilme ve İran’a yönelik yaptırımları yeniden uygulama sürecinde Trump yönetiminin nasıl bir stratejik anlatı inşasında bulunduğunu tespit etmektir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda çalışma, birincil kaynaklar olan siyasi elitlerin resmi demeç, bildiri ve açıklamaları incelenerek yürütüldü. Veri tarama ve toplama sürecinde nitel yöntem benimsenirken, elde edilen verilerin çözümleme işlemi nitel içerik analizi tekniğiyle yapıldı. Araştırıma sürecinde Trump yönetiminin olay anlatısı, kimlik anlatısı ve sistem anlatısı olmak üzere üç farklı düzlemde stratejik anlatı inşasında bulunduğu gözlemlendi. Araştırma, Trump yönetiminin Orta Doğu’da İran’ın artan güç kapasitesi ve bölgesel etkinliğinin önüne geçmek amacıyla uygulamaya koyduğu “maksimum baskı” stratejisi uyarınca aldığı kararları uluslararası kamuoyu nezdinde meşru göstermek amacıyla stratejik anlatıyı bir araç olarak kullandığı sonucuna ulaşmaktadır.

Keywords

Stratejik Anlatı, Nükleer Anlaşma, Trump Yönetimi, ABD, İran

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