Reflection on the Importance of Language

This week I have learned of the importance of the use of language in politics. Certain words can give different connotations which can give different meanings that can spur particular actions.

Dr. Peter Howard explained that he must use certain language when writing about Middle East peace in the papers he drafts for the State Department.

This week I also read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the situation in Ecuador. Police revolted because the government cut the policemen's benefits. President Correa of Ecuador called the outbreak of violence an "attempted coup d'état" to make the government look like the "victim" and placed the blame on Ecuador's former president(WSJ). President Correa use of "coup d'état" to label the policemen's protest could have been a strategy to bring attention and aid to the country.

Language has great power in politics. Words are a powerful tool for politicians to use as exemplified by Ecuador's president and by Dr. Howard. On the stage of world politics, it is the way leaders use language that invokes certain reactions in the world's other leaders.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704789404575524020941308454.html