Unpacking Diplospeak: Diplomatic Rhetoric and Communication in International Relations

"Euphemistic," "placatory," "Orwellian" – the terms often associated with the ways diplo- mats speak are hardly flattering. Perhaps because of these stereotypes, diplomatic rhetoric has remained underappreciated as a tool in a state's foreign policy toolbox. My research challenges this conventional wisdom, showing that rhetoric is an important strategic tool that states use to communicate with each other. I use a mixed-method approach to ad- vance a theory of state rhetoric that shows when and how "diplospeak" — the seemingly bland language of diplomats — plays a vital role in the function of international relations. Specifically, I use semi-structured interviews with both U.S. and South Korean diplomats to trace the process through which diplomatic rhetoric is drafted, edited, and disseminated on a day-to-day basis, showing that diplomats look to established conventions of diplospeak to signpost policy intentions. I then introduce two novel datasets of archival State Department press material, applying computational text analysis methods to uncover broad patterns in how states deploy diplospeak, showing that rhetorical patterns map directly onto moments of policy continuity and change over time. My dissertation therefore crosses disciplinary and methodological boundaries to build a theory of diplospeak that has implications for the growing literature on rhetoric within international relations.