From Frontier to Foreign Policy: The Discursive Tributaries of American Orientalism

Abstract

This article argues that thanks to its unique interdiscursive character, American Orientalism, as a hegemonic discourse, constitutes the most realized expression of historical Orientalism. To this end, the article employs an interdiscursive analytical framework to map the specific "tributaries" that feed into and shape present-day American orientalist discourse. The study is systematically structured to define and explore these tributaries across three main analytical sections: firstly, an examination of American Exceptionalism as the primary tributary, encompassing foundational concepts such as the Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny; secondly, an analysis of frontier mythology including the tropes of the "Wild West" and "Indian Country" and their applications to orientalist constructions; and thirdly, an investigation of postwar novel orientalist paradigms, including Modernization and Democratization theories, neo-orientalism, and the "Clash of Civilizations"/new barbarism theses. Through the systematic analysis of these primary discursive streams, the study reveals how American Orientalism operates as a complex interdependent system of colonial and intellectual discourses. In so doing, it demonstrates that post-9/11 imaginaries represent not a departure from but rather an intensification of historical orientalist constructions, employing familiar frontier metaphors and exceptionalist rationale to justify contemporary foreign interventions. By tracing the genealogical connections between Orientalism, America's founding myths and neo-orientalist discourses, this article seeks to illuminate how the United States has inherited and transformed the imperial mantle from declining European colonial powers while infusing it with distinctly American discursive features that are rooted in its own colonial and expansionist history. The findings contribute to understanding how American orientalist constructions that are permeated with national mythologies continue to inform American foreign policy formulation in the Middle-East and beyond.