Introduction

Summary

The Introduction asks three questions: (i) Why study Syria? (ii) Why focus on the foreign policies of the USA, UK and Australia? And, (iii) Why analyse language? First, the case is made for the study of Syria as the principal crisis on the planet today. Second, the case is made for the study of three of the world’s leading interventionist states, intimately connected through a sense of shared values, culture and identity, which propels them into repeated patterns of coalition warfare. Third, the case is made that policy responses and possibilities are contingent upon their discursive architectural foundations. Finally, the Introduction maps out the structure and arguments of the book.