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estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 2, (jun. 2022), p. 96-117
Critical Discourse Analysis and Lexical
Semantics: An Interdisciplinary Interpreting
of the US and China Defense White Papers
Análise Crítica do Discurso e Semântica Lexical: Uma
Interpretação Interdisciplinar dos Livros Brancos de Defesa
dos EUA e da China
Análisis Crítico del Discurso y Semántica Lexical: Una
Interpretación Interdisciplinaria de los Libros Blancos de
Defensa de EEUU y China
Karina Coelho Pires1
Rafaela Araújo Jordão Rigaud Peixoto2
DOI: 10.5752/P.2317-773X.2022v10.n2.p96
Recebido em: 04 de novembro de 2021
Aprovado em: 05 de dezembro de 2022
ABSTRACT
There have been new facets of multilateralism, which have motivated the rea-
lignment of traditional power relations established globally, especially regarding
the United States and China. This new strategic environment can be observed in
changes made to the Brazilian National Defense White Paper (LBDN) of 2020,
as well as in the dialectic between white papers of the United States (2017),
and China (2019). To investigate these realignments and their possible impacts
on the Brazilian defense sector, the analysis was carried out in two phases: (1)
analysis of the general characteristics of the Defense White Papers by the USA
and China; and (2) comparison of discourses conveyed in chapters on interna-
tional cooperation in each Defense White Paper. Speech patterns were analyzed
according to rationales of Lexical Semantics and Critical Discourse Analysis. As
a result, elements of semantic elds, intertextuality and modality in discourse
were pointed out as parameters that could contribute to the evaluation of coo-
peration and deterrence/dissuasion actions to be adopted by the USA and China
in the 21st century.
Keywords: Identity; Defense Studies; Critical Discourse Analysis.
R
Novas facetas de multilateralismo emergiram e motivaram o realinhamento de
tradicionais relações de poder estabelecidas globalmente, principalmente entre
os Estados Unidos e a China. Esse novo ambiente estratégico pode ser observa-
do nas mudanças feitas no Livro Branco de Defesa Nacional do Brasil (LBDN)
1. PhD in Portuguese Language from
the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao
Paulo (PUC-SP). Professor at the Air
Force University (UNIFA). E-mail: karina-
coelhopires@gmail.com. ORCID: https://
orcid.org/0000-0002-1445-4885
2. Postdoctoral Researcher in Corpus
Linguistics at the University of Sao Pau-
lo (USP), and PhD in Language Studies
from the Pontifical Catholic University
of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Researcher
and Translator at the Department of
Airspace Control (DECEA), and Professor
at the Air Force University (UNIFA).
E-mail: rafaela.peixoto@gmail.com.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
3504-8405
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Karina Coelho Pires, Rafaela Araújo Jordão Rigaud Peixoto
Crical Discourse Analysis and Lexical Semancs: An Interdisciplinary Interpreng of the us and China Defense White Papers
de 2020, como também na dialética entre os Livros Brancos dos Estados Unidos
(2017) e da China (2019). Para investigar esses realinhamentos e seus possíveis
impactos no setor de defesa brasileiro, a análise foi realizada em duas fases: (1)
análise das características gerais dos Livros Brancos de Defesa dos EUA e da
China; e (2) comparação dos discursos apresentados em capítulos sobre coope-
ração internacional em cada Livro Branco de Defesa. Os padrões de discurso
foram analisados conforme os arcabouços teórico-metodológicos da Semântica
Lexical e da Análise de Discurso Crítica. Como resultado, elementos de campos
semânticos, intertextualidade e modalidade no discurso foram apontados como
parâmetros que poderiam contribuir para a avaliação das ações de cooperação e
deterrência/dissuasão a serem adotadas pelos EUA e pela China no século XXI.
Palavras-chave: Identidade; Estudos de Defesa; Análise de Discurso Crítica.
R
Nuevas facetas de multilateralismo han surgido y han motivado el realineamien-
to de las tradicionales relaciones de poder establecidas globalmente, principal-
mente entre Estados Unidos y China.Este nuevo entorno estratégico se puede
observar en los cambios realizados en el Libro Blanco de Defensa Nacional de
Brasil (LBDN) de 2020, así como en la dialéctica entre los Libros Blancos de
Estados Unidos (2017) y de China (2019).Para investigar estes realineamientos
y sus posibles impactos en el sector de defensa brasileño, el análisis se realizó
en dos fases: (1) análisis de las características generales de los Libros Blancos
de Defensa de Estados Unidos y de China;y (2) comparación de los discursos
presentados en capítulos sobre cooperación internacional en cada Libro Blanco
de Defensa.Los patrones de discurso fueron analizados conforme los marcos
teórico-metodológicos de la Semántica Lexical y del Análisis de Discurso Críti-
co.Como resultado, elementos de campos semánticos, intertextualidad y moda-
lidad en el discurso fueron apuntados como parámetros que podrían contribuir
para la evaluación de las acciones de cooperación y deterrencia/disuasión a ser
adoptadas por EEUU y por China en el siglo XXI.
Palavras clave: Identidad; Estudios de Defensa; Análisis de Discurso Crítico.
INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, the world has witnessed the unfolding of new
facets of multilateralism, which have motivated the realignment of tradi-
tional power relations established globally. In this context, the Asian con-
tinent stands out as the main motivator of this realignment, particularly
regarding the relationship between countries in this geographical place,
and the United States (US) and China.
Whereas the US and China have great economic and political in-
uence nowadays, it is essential to understand their context of global action
in the eld of defense and international cooperation, with the purpose of al-
lowing Brazil to anticipate strategies to deal with new multilateral contexts.
In this sense, it is necessary to go through a more complex and de-
tailed analysis about stances shown in the White Papers published by the
US and China, with interdisciplinary contributions, in order to expand
perceptions that may be relevant for the performance of the Brazilian
Defense sector.
According to these assumptions and based on methodological ra-
tionales of critical discourse analysis and lexical semantics, this paper
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estudos internacionais • Belo Horizonte, ISSN 2317-773X, v. 10, n. 2, (jun. 2022), p. 96-117
aimed at identifying defense approaches adopted by the US and China,
according to the publicized in their White Papers, dated 2017 and 2019,
respectively. To this end, the analysis unfolded in two phases: (1) analysis
of general characteristics of Defense White Papers by the US and China;
and (2) comparison of discourse conveyed in chapters on international
cooperation in each Defense White Paper, in addition to Closing remarks
on both White Papers.
1 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DETERRENCE/DISSUASION: A
GEOPOLITICAL PANORAMA
One of the purposes of the International Relations eld is to analyze
the world scenario regarding the hierarchical classication of great and me-
dium powers. Among the various thinkers who dedicate themselves to the
interpretation of phenomena on the international stage, some defend Eu-
rocentric perspectives and, more recently, the possible emergence of a Chi-
nese School of International Relations is argued (Cf. CUNHA et al, 2018).
In this sense, this article seeks to contribute to an understanding
of the quest for the position of power of the US and China within the
international system in the 21st century, taking into account the Chinese
rise and the decline of the US in this century. We understand that the US,
aiming to maintain its world hegemony, intends to control the Chinese
economic strengthening. China, for its part, opposes hegemonism and
power politics, by declaring its military power and development as a bal-
last for peaceful development.
Within this panorama, Nogueira (2019) argues that there is a Chi-
nese economic leadership and a US military supremacy, so there is not
only one hegemonic state, but two states that would concentrate much of
the international power.
Therefore, it is necessary to describe how some forms of coopera-
tion are made evident in the discourse. For this reason, as a way to bring
a broader context to the debate, we present some visions of cooperation
and deterrence in the international relations of the US and China, star-
ting with the South China Sea, a current hotspot of dispute.
The South China Sea is a semi-enclosed marginal sea, which is part
of the Pacic Ocean and comprises China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Viet-
nam, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, having access through the Malacca
Strait and the Taiwan Strait. Due to its geological formation, it has oil and
natural gas deposits in its bed, although still dicult to explore; in addi-
tion to being one of the most important trade routes in the world. These
factors have led, in recent decades, to increased claims for portions of the
South China Sea.
Aguilar and Fakhoury (2019) state that the disputes surrounding
the South China Sea not only involve countries claiming territory in this
eld, but also the two major world powers and international and regional
organizations, as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In
this sense, countries involved in the conict have signed agreements in
order to increase their military power in relation to China and/or dissua-
de more aggressive Chinese posture.
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Crical Discourse Analysis and Lexical Semancs: An Interdisciplinary Interpreng of the us and China Defense White Papers
The authors highlight the position of some countries such as: India,
which has a medium- and long-term strategy of making its defense indus-
trial base self-sucient; Japan, which outlined in its Defense Plan (2013)
the acquisition of new war materials (destroyers, submarines, unmanned
aerial vehicles, ghter planes and new helicopters) until 2019; and Austra-
lia, which publicized in its 2009 defense document their intent of moder-
nizing and strengthening its naval forces (air defense, strategic attacks,
special forces, intelligence, Ultramarine and Antarctic warfare force).
Regarding India, which has rivalry with China and Pakistan, re-
lations with Japan have been established and there has been integration
with the Indian Ocean Rim Countries Association (IOR-ARC). As for Ja-
pan, it is opposed to Chinese growth and has maintained relations with
the US since the end of WWII with the guarantee of stability provided
by them. Australia, also supported by the US since the end of WWII, is a
member of a security alliance that encompasses Australia, New Zealand
and the US, although China is a major trading partner to Australia.
When considering the South China Sea as a strategic point for the-
se three countries, Aguilar and Fakhoury (2019) say that any threat to
this point, however distant, is seen as a threat close to the security and
interests of the three countries. Thus, freedom of navigation has been
defended and the Chinese stance of aggression has been condemned.
Vietnam, after problems with China due to the 2014 Oil Platform
Crisis, has increased its defense cooperation policies since the late 1990s,
when it became a member of ASEAN, strengthening relations with India
on security issues, establishing a Strategic and Extensive Partnership for
Peace and Prosperity in Asia with Japan, and building strong ties with
the US on bilateral defense relations. Therefore, Vietnam primarily has
defensive purposes, but its policy of alliances is related to the increasing
Chinese assertiveness in the region.
Malaysia also maintains defense agreements with strategic part-
ners, eg with the US, but it also conducts military exercises with China
and India. The protection of Malaysian interests is ensured through an
agreement involving Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United
Kingdom, as well as an agreement with Brunei to resolve border dispu-
tes. The Philippines have cooperation agreements with China, but gua-
rantees the US rotational access to military bases in the country. And
Taiwan has a treaty with the US to defend the country in the event of an
external attack, although it is engendering eorts to integrate with the
Chinese economy. Besides the relationship with these countries, China
also fosters interaction with African countries for both economic and de-
fense matters.
As can be seen, the South China Sea has strategic dynamics invol-
ving several actors with particular interests in the region, and there have
been moves by the US and China, with policies of deterrence in the re-
gion, as opposed to eorts of other countries to establish strategic part-
nerships in defense, to protect their claims against Chinese growth.
On the other hand, in the Korean Peninsula, dened by its stra-
tegic condition of “outpost between great powers” (SARAIVA; AMA-
RAL, 2019, p. 18), cooperation is bringing together the Democratic Peo-
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ple’s Republic of Korea and the US. This is a US foreign policy strategy
for East Asia and the Middle East, to increase control over global oil,
and the long-term growth conditions of China and other rising Asian
powers.
Regarding cyberspace, an analysis by Maier (2018) on the US policy
for this sector during the Obama and Trump administration highlighted
international cooperation. The US sought leadership in the cyber eld
through multilateral environments, but also, at the same time, launched
cyber espionage operations against its partners, which countered multi-
lateral rhetoric and unilateral and aggressive action.
In this eld, China has established a policy of space cooperation
(CEPIK, 2011), aimed at increasing Beijing’s international inuence wi-
thout other major powers overreacting, as a way to postpone possible
militarization of space, and also seek to build partnerships with regional
countries still beginning space projects, as in the case of Latin America
(CUNHA et al, 2018).
In view of this, we emphasize it is essential to note that a rigid
categorization of actors favorable or contrary to country X or Y is insuf-
cient to understand the reality of cooperation and deterrence/dissua-
sion issues. Some institutions called think tanks, particularly in the US,
work to encourage Sino-American relations on some topics, although
they maintain dierent positions regarding other points (PONTES,
2020). In Brazil, the think tank called Brazilian Center for International
Relations (CEBRI) also acts to encourage discussion about global inter-
dependence and demystify biased positions. In the US, China is recog-
nized as important for the maintenance of the great American strategy.
To understand this interrelation, it is necessary to address concepts of
identity and hegemony.
2 IDENTITY AND HEGEMONY: PERSPECTIVES ON WESTERN AND
EASTERN WORLDS
One of the concerns of the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is in-
vestigating how the discursive clash between identities occurs. The hege-
monic struggle over identication modes consists of a struggle between
stabilization and destabilization of identity constructions. Fairclough
(2003) states that identication should be understood as a dialectical pro-
cess in which discourses are inculcated into identities, since identication
presupposes representation, in terms of presumptions, about what one
actually is.
The concept of Hegemony adopted by the CDA is the one con-
ceptualized by Gramsci and used by Fairclough (2016): “hegemony” is
characterized as leadership and as domination in the economic, political,
cultural and ideological domains of a society, that is, the dominance exer-
cised by the power of a group over others.
In this research, identity, as aligned with Cultural Studies, is consi-
dered as “the source of meaning and experience of a people” (CASTELLS,
2018, p. 54). Thus, we discuss the formation of identity in the contempo-
rary political, economic and social scenario, and the armation of an
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Crical Discourse Analysis and Lexical Semancs: An Interdisciplinary Interpreng of the us and China Defense White Papers
identity as part of a chain of denials, dierences, and armations, or a
chain of denials about other identities (SILVA, 2014).
In this sense, concepts of identity and dierence are mutually de-
termined, as acts of linguistic creation: they are constructions of the so-
cial world, actively produced in speech, in texts and interactions. As they
are symbolic constructions, Silva (2014) states that they are subject to po-
wer relations and struggles for their redenition. In other words, identity
is constructed from dierence, the perception of oneself and the other,
and the exclusion of the other, by valuing the self to the detriment of the
other (WOODWARD, 2014).
Along with this perspective, it is important to highlight that domi-
nant cultures tend to project their own interpretation of other cultures.
As Said (1990) explains, the Western identity became stronger precisely
through its contrast with the Eastern identity, which used to be conside-
red a sort of second-class society. Even nowadays sometimes interactions
with citizens from the “Eastern world” are highly impacted by cultural
simulacra (Cf. PEIXOTO, 2019).
From this perspective, we will look at the dialogue between the US
and China Defense White Papers as a dialectical construction of identity
and dierence.
3 METHODOLOGY
In this paper, the methodology was carried out in two phases: (1)
analysis of general characteristics of Defense White Papers by the US and
China; and (2) comparison of discourse conveyed in chapters on inter-
national cooperation in each Defense White Paper, namely Chapter VI
“Actively Contributing to Building a Community with a Shared Future
for Mankind” (pages 42 to 51) in the Chinese document, and Pillar IV
“Advance American Inuence” (pages 37 to 54) in the US document, in
addition to “Closing remarks” in both White Papers.
As mentioned before, the discourse patterns were analyzed ac-
cording to methodological rationales of lexical semantics (L’HOMME,
2020; PEIXOTO; PIMENTEL, 2020) and critical discourse analysis (FAIR-
CLOUGH, 2003), aligned with perspectives of international cooperation
and deterrence/dissuasion (CUNHA et al, 2018; AGUILAR & FAKHOU-
RY, 2019), and identity and hegemony (CASTELLS, 2018; SILVA, 2014;
WOODWARD, 2014; SAID, 1990).
Concerning the lexical semantic approach, semantic labels were
created to express how lexical and semantic contents are related in the
specialized discourse in the eld of International Relations. As a full ex-
tensive lexical semantic analysis would be too long for this paper, the use
of this rationale intended to oer an overview of discursive approaches,
so the selected terms and their corresponding semantic labels are presen-
ted in Section 5 and briey discussed in subsections 6.1 and 7.1. As for the
critical discourse analysis, the theoretical and methodological assump-
tions are introduced in the following section and more broadly discussed
in analyses of subsections 6.2 and 7.2 later in this paper.
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4 CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (CDA)
The studies of discourse and identity serve as a basis for the in-
vestigation of the constructions of identities in the discourses in general
and, in this article, specically in the discourses presented in the White
Defense Documents of China and the US. By highlighting our interest in
language and its complex relationship with society, we characterize our
research as discursive analysis.
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is at the center of the search for
understanding the construction of meanings, the relations between lan-
guage and society. For this reason, this theoretical aspect is the means by
which we conduct the processes of reection and analysis on the identity
presented by China and the US in their defense books in relation to per-
formance and global cooperation. The CDA contributes to debate issues
related to control, power and institutional manipulation, providing, as
stated by Magalhães (2005), theoretical and methodological contributions
to interpret and explain language in socio-historical contexts.
Thus, through the notions of ideology, identity, power and hege-
mony, it is possible to understand the discourse as a reproducing and/or
producing social inequalities and struggles for power. In this sense, CDA
assumptions are related to assumptions of the Social Sciences, in order to
study language as a social practice.
When we understand that the discourse reects social standards,
we see that the discourse will reect and reproduce the transformations
that occur in society (Cf. NOGUEIRA, 2019). Therefore, the analysis of
texts produced in the eld of defense, particularly the Defense White Pa-
pers by China and the US, are relevant contributions to understand the
global scenario of defense policies.
This production of meaning interwoven in the social process is
characterized as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary theoretical-
-methodological approach. In this sense, Fairclough (2003) points out that
speeches are part of social events, such as part of a White Paper on Na-
tional Defense. For the author, the discourses have causal eects, among
which the most prominent are the ideological eects: sustain or even
change ideologies and identities.
In his 2003 work, Fairclough proposes to analyze the three ways in
which discourse gures in social practices: gender, discourse and styles.
The actional meaning is associated with the concept of gender, as ways
of acting and interacting in social events; the representational meaning,
to the concept of discourse, as ways of representing dierent aspects of
the world in a particular way; the identicational meaning, the concept of
style, as ways of being, of identity construction, that is, the way in which
people identify with each other.
Based on a textually-oriented analysis, Fairclough (2003) propo-
ses to investigate the constitution of meanings in discourses from the
perspective of Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL). Then we chose to
analyze the ways in which discourse gures in social practices, especially
the way of being, intertwined with the identicational meaning, since we
are interested in the way in which China and the US identify with each
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Crical Discourse Analysis and Lexical Semancs: An Interdisciplinary Interpreng of the us and China Defense White Papers
other. The identicational meaning of discourse relates to the process of
constructing identities, referring to the way of being or to the identities
in their linguistic and semiotic aspects. For Fairclough (2003), the way
the individual writes reveals who he is, and how people identify and are
identied by others.
Styles are manifested through dierent linguistic characteristics
such as pronunciation, intonation, accent, rhythm, vocabulary and meta-
phor. For Fairclough (2003), the categories of analysis that can be associa-
ted with the identicational meaning are modality and evaluation, which
we use in this research and we will further discuss.
The modality (if what is said is true/necessary/possible) is seen as
the way in which people engage when making statements, questions, of-
fers or demands, as there are dierent ways of making a statement, a ques-
tion, a demand and a supply, which materialize dierent commitments.
Modality is important in the structuring of identities, since the way a per-
son engages in social interaction is a signicant part of what (s)he is.
To analyze evaluation in discourse, we used the appraisal category,
through the system proposed by the Sidney School of SFL. This category
analyzes what concerns the speaker’s impressions regarding dierent
aspects of the world, what pleases or dislikes him/her, what (s)he con-
siders relevant or not and is materialized in textual traits as statements
of appraisal, statements with deontic modality (obligation) or statements
with verbs of aective mental process and presumptions of aective
value.
According to this theoretical perspective, in any text, the author
must indicate his/her level of commitment to what is being stated, as a
modality feature. For Halliday (1985), modality must be considered from
intermediary levels ranging from absolute assertion to absolute negation.
In a dierent direction, Fairclough (2016) considers both assertion and ne-
gation to be part of a categorical modality; and he also adds another dis-
tinction: objective and subjective modalities. In the objective modality, it
is not clear-cut if the statement would be (a) a point of view of the author;
(b) a universal perspective of the author’s point of view; (c) another indivi-
dual’s point of view just presented by the author; or (d) the point of view
of a group. In the subjective modality, it is made clear by the author that
the point of view expressed is his own.
By using the appraisal analysis in CDA, we can systematically show
how readers and listeners are dynamically positioned before seemingly
neutral statements, in a negative or positive way. In the analysis, we prio-
ritize the attitude subsystem, because we understand attitudes occupy a
central place in the appraisal process, being able to reveal the types and
levels in which appraisal is developed and expressed in discourse (AL-
MEIDA, 2010).
5 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF U.S. AND CHINA WHITE PAPERS
To best understand the context in which ideas of international coo-
peration were expressed in the two White Papers, a previous analysis
of the whole text is carried out, then the selected chapters are analyzed