A Critical Discourse Analysis of Biden’s First Speech on the War in Ukraine from the Perspective of Ideological Square Model

Abstract

This article analyses Biden’s first speech on the war in Ukraine. The aim is to reveal the underlying ideologies and messages communicated through it. The speech prescribed was taken from the official website of the American Presidency Project. Made up of 1984 words, the speech lasted for 13 minutes and 50 seconds. It was subjected to analysis from the perspective of van Dijk’s Ideological Square Model. The results show that Biden employed eight discursive strategies, which are Actor Description, Consensus, comparison, Evidentiality, Values expression, Victimization/criminalization, National self-glorification, and Presupposition. To legitimise his new severe sanctions on Russia,  President Biden tried to export an image of himself and his allies as defenders of liberalism, humanitarianism and democracy against Russia and its president, who has initiated an ‘unnecessary’ war on Ukraine.