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Paper prepared for delivery at the Forty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the
International Studies Association, Panel on
Terrorism, Wars on Terror,
and Democratic Process, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 3, 2005.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to examine the origins and usages of the
U.S. State Department’s listing of “state sponsors of terrorism.” From a
political-language perspective, the listing is discussed as a form of
measurement discourse based on categorization. The rhetorical uses of
the listing have become pivotal as the U.S. has pursued its “war on
terrorism.” For domestic purposes, the listing spotlights the nation’s
most pressing foreign policy concern, creating a symbol that rallies
political support but also focuses public anxieties. On the international