A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN THE DISCOURSE OF PAKISTAN’S UNGA REPRESENTATIVE ON ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the politeness and discursive strategies in Munir Akram’s discourse, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, to portray Pakistan’s position in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Political discourse plays an important role in shaping the history of the world, especially in the context of conflict and diplomacy. Through the use of qualitative research methods, this study examines the strategies he used diplomatically in the discourse analysis of his speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and an interview with Dawn News, which was directed at global and national audiences. The findings show that Munir Akram very carefully balanced positive and negative politeness strategies to maintain diplomatic decorum while asserting Pakistan’s leadership on the issue. His speech to the UN General Assembly shows a strategic use of positive politeness to promote solidarity with the international community and counterbalance negative politeness that reduces the risk of being seen as a threat when addressing dominant states. On the other hand, in his interview with Dawn News, he has used direct criticism and emotionally charged speeches and appeals to the nationalism of the audience. The analysis also revealed that Akram has used a positive self-representation discourse to construct the image of Pakistan as a defender of Palestinian rights and a negative other-representation discourse to question the actions of international powers. This study offers an analysis of the language systems that construct international diplomacy and the rhetoric of conflict by employing politeness and discourse strategies. It complements the existing literature on political discourse and shows how language functions as a diplomatic tool and political propaganda.