Pro-war rhetoric is rhetoric or propaganda designed to convince its audience that war is necessary. The two main analytical approaches to pro-war rhetoric were founded by Ronald Reid, a Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Robert Ivie, a Professor of Rhetoric and Public Communication and Culture at Indiana University. Reid's framework originated from inductively studying propaganda. Ivie uses a deductive approach based on the work of Kenneth Burke, claiming that "a people strongly committed to the ideal of peace, but simultaneously faced with the reality of war, must believe that the fault for any such disruption of their ideal lies with others".
Rhetorical framework of Ronald Reid
According to Reid, pro-war rhetoric uses three appeals: territorial, ethnocentric, and optimistic..
Territorial appeals
Territorial appeals threaten the audience's "sense of territoriality". The audience is more likely to support entering the war on the defensive rather than offensive side because of an actual or threatened invasion.
Ethnocentric appeals
Ethnocentric appeals create a dichotomy between the audience and the enemy. Ethnocentrism should be evoked to a "high level of emotional intensity" in attempt to complete two goals: hate the "inferior alien" and depict threats to cultural values. The most common method of evoking ethnocentric appeals come in the form of Barbarism vs. Gallantry. It depicts the enemy's cultural values with evil characteristics, and the audience's as angelic.
Optimistic appeal
The optimistic appeal assures the audience that victory is inevitable should they enter into war..
Rhetorical framework of Robert Ivie
According to Ivie, pro-war rhetoric identifies three topoi; force vs. freedom, irrational vs. rational, and aggression vs. defense.
Force vs. freedom
This tactic portrays to the audience that they are entering war to provide freedom, and the opponent to force their values upon others. This is accomplished by implying that the opponent is violent, while the audience's nation is willing to negotiate.
Irrational vs. rational
This topos holds that the enemy is portrayed as irrational, responding "more to animalistic drives than principles of law". The enemy has an unenlightened intellect, not based on reason. Rhetors use this argument to prove that when an enemy such as this threatens the well-being of the world, even for a nation committed to neutrality and peace, war is the only choice.
Aggression vs. defense
This idea portrays the enemy as the voluntary aggressor and the nation of the audience as the passive victims of aggression, only entering into war to ensure security. "While the savage has acted against order, the victim has been forced to respond in its defense". Ivie describes the actions as either "voluntary" and "initial" or "involuntary" and "defensive". The purpose of this topos is to lay the blame on the enemy and justify reasons for the victimized nation to engage in action.
