Discourse at the Juncture : the Explanatory Power of Discourse Theory and Policy Analysis for Understanding Peace Operations and Humanitarian Intervention

Abstract

Referring to the growing importance of international intervention and the obvious role of political communication in preparing and implementing related missions, the present paper explores the potential of discourse theory and policy-analysis for the understanding of international peace operations and humanitarian interventions. Focusing on temporality and critical junctures, we address change, turning points, stability and persistent trajectories as dimensions of political and institutional trajectories. We are stating that, while processes of related structuration can be observed on three interconnected layers discourses, actors, arenas , they are typically triggered by crises and/or the activity of political entrepreneurs.