Book Review: Rhetoric of InSecurity; The Language of Danger, Fear and Safety in National and International Contexts - Victoria Baines

This would be a best seller if it had been entitled "Everything I learned about national security talks, I learned from Cicero". Preferably dumbed-down to accompany a Netflix series about sexy Romans.

Instead, it is a scholarly work which takes the reader through the art of rhetoric and how it is used and abused by modern speech-makers. It specifically looks at things through a National Security (including Cyber Security) lens. And it expertly steps through how to write in order to convince.

The function of eloquence seems to be to speak in a manner suited to persuade an audience, the end is to persuade by speech.

What is it that people are trying to convince us of? What are the rhetorical tricks which shortcut our critical faculties? What does history teach us about the reporting of security issues?

And, crucially, why is this so important?

The more we are able to question the language and presentation of statements on new threats, the better placed we are to evaluate these threats and respond appropriately.

There is some extremely nerdy investigations of various speeches and documents. I think it relies a bit too heavily on synthetic "ease of reading" scores. But there are some insightful analyses. For example, how close is Trump to his Emperor forebears? Baines walks us through Trump's preface to a document and, with typical understatement, remarks:

The more closely one scrutinises this preface, the more evident it becomes that Trump does not conform to traditional Western notions of rhetorical or stylistic sophistication.

There's a decent amount of Latin to wade through. Are well as some classical poetry (thankfully also translated) there are sprinklings of the language throughout. A fairly typical paragraph is:

Silence is also of strategic utility to Classical orators. For Quintilian, it is a conscious act, whether an exercise of tact, a sudden break in speech which is left unfinished (interpellatio) or a withholding of information (reticentia). In all these cases, silence is not simply an absence of speech. What is unsaid is present “in the room”: it may already be known to all and not require repeating; or it may be implied but not specified, leaving the audience to imagine their own version of events.

I particularly enjoyed the way that common tropes are dealt with. Sometimes being able to name something helps blunt its power.

the FBI’s cybercrime website described the threat from cybercrime as “serious - and growing. Cyber intrusions are becoming more commonplace, more dangerous, and more sophisticated”. Readers will recognise the construction as a triad with anaphora, emphatic repetition of the leading word that is the verbal equivalent of striking the lectern.

It is an extremely tech-literate book. And it is also opinionated on some of the problems that our sector has with communicating with the public:

Designation of cyber operations as war is therefore not only hyperbolical: it distances cybersecurity from ordinary human experience, and strips citizens of individual agency.

Baines also successfully makes the case that, sometimes, we need to remember to tone down the jargon in order to communicate clearly.

One of the contentions of this chapter is that cybersecurity awareness and cybercrime prevention communications persistently fail to engage the public in meaningful protective measures, because a glossary is required to explain key concepts.

It's a relief that the book doesn't just focus on the USA - there's a good discussion about the UK state's use of rhetoric influences our debate. The author acknowledges that this focus on the "western" classics leads down a somewhat mono-cultural path. I'd certainly love to see how, say, classic Japanese literature is reflected in the way the Japanese talk about such issues.

This is an excellent book. It is a fascinating way to "see how the sausage is made" when it comes to public communication of National Security issues. It will help you appreciate the way ancient linguistic tricks are repurposed for the modern world.