The question of this paper is as follows: How does Zelenskyy try to convince the international community in his speeches to win foreign aid in resisting Russia’s war of aggression? By means of qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz (2022), categories are to be formed for this purpose, which are referred to as Zelenskyy’s linguistic tools. In this way, certain patterns of persuasion in Zelenskyy’s language are to be identified, which serve to win over the foreign aid. As President of Ukraine, Zelenskyy serves as the central figure in requesting foreign aid.
"The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride". With these words, the Ukrainian president rejected the US offer to evacuate him on 26 February, when Russian sabotage groups had already entered Kiev. By doing so, he impressed the whole world and proved himself a courageous leader in the resistance against the Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine. A short time later, Western countries are providing unprecedented amounts of military, humanitarian, and financial aid to Ukraine, which continues to this day.
As the war in Ukraine has become a global crisis, the political and academic discourse is often about what governments and international organizations can do to solve the crisis. Consequently, foreign aid to Ukraine counts as a political instrument for this purpose. Thus, donors get to play the central role in the issue of foreign aid, while the role of the recipient is marginalized. This means that the approaches, strategies, or instruments of recipients are hardly considered when it comes to obtaining aid.
Yet a high volume of aid could be as much due to the performance of the recipient as to the interest of the donor. A similar situation emerges in the state of research on foreign aid to date. In contrast to the donor perspective, the recipient perspective is neglected. It is surprising, therefore, that there have been no contributions to date on approaches, strategies, or instruments on how borrowers proceed to win foreign aid. The exception here is well-known news services such as BBC or Forbes, which analyzed Zelenskyy’s speeches in journalistic style and succinctly. The aim of this paper is therefore to contribute to filling this research gap.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Foreign Aid
- Language in international politics
- Method
- Sampling
- Results
- Ukrainian resistance
- Russia's war of aggression
- Demands
- Similarities
- Readiness to act
- Incentives
- Discussion
- Interpretation of the results
- Integration into the state of research
- Criticism and limitations of the methodological approach
- Conclusion
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This paper examines how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy employs linguistic strategies in his speeches to persuade the international community to provide foreign aid in the face of Russia's war of aggression. It aims to identify patterns of persuasion in Zelenskyy's language and analyze their effectiveness in securing foreign aid. The research is conducted through qualitative content analysis, using categories developed to represent Zelenskyy's linguistic tools.
- The effectiveness of Zelenskyy's linguistic strategies in securing foreign aid.
- The role of language in international politics, particularly in the context of foreign aid.
- The recipient perspective on foreign aid, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine.
- The impact of Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine and the international community.
- The role of international organizations and states in responding to the crisis in Ukraine.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: Introduces the research question, highlighting the gap in existing research on the recipient perspective of foreign aid, particularly regarding Zelenskyy's efforts to secure aid during the war in Ukraine. The paper outlines the research approach and methodology.
- Foreign Aid: Reviews the current state of research on foreign aid, exploring three main strands: the impact of foreign aid on conflict, the donor perspective, and the recipient perspective. The chapter emphasizes the lack of research on the recipient perspective, particularly in the context of Zelenskyy's efforts to secure aid.
- Language in international politics: Discusses the importance of language in international politics, particularly within the framework of discourse analysis. The chapter highlights the role of language in constructing and reflecting reality, identities, and power relations.
- Method: Explains the methodology employed, focusing on qualitative content analysis, specifically the content-structuring approach. The chapter describes the steps involved in the analysis, including the formation of categories and the use of MAXQDA software.
- Sampling: Details the selection of five speeches by Zelenskyy, emphasizing the criteria used for selection, including the speeches' media attention, diversity, and distribution across months.
- Results (Ukrainian resistance): Analyzes Zelenskyy's statements about Ukrainian resistance, highlighting his emphasis on the bravery of the Ukrainian army, the violation of international agreements by Russia, and the need for international support. The chapter examines how Zelenskyy positions Ukraine as a defender of fundamental rights and freedom.
- Results (Russia's war of aggression): Examines Zelenskyy's statements about the negative consequences of Russia's war of aggression, including the suffering inflicted on Ukraine, the violation of the Budapest Memorandum, and the global impact of the conflict. The chapter analyzes how Zelenskyy uses historical parallels and appeals to international values to garner support.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The main keywords and focus topics of the paper are foreign aid, linguistic tools, persuasion, Zelenskyy, Russia's war of aggression, Ukraine, international politics, discourse analysis, qualitative content analysis, and recipient perspective.
- Quote paper
- Maksym Motrouk (Author), 2022, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s speeches. Qualitative content analysis of the speeches to the international community during Russia’s war of aggression, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1288191
