Dehumanizing Language in Modern Warfare

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Any war always involves language, as the people need to believe that someone is unworthy of humane treatment. According to Brown, dehumanization is “the psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment” (para 8). Without dehumanization, people around the world are prone to be sympathetic to all human beings, which prevents them from supporting wars. Thus, this paper claims that dehumanization is the starting point of any war or armed conflict.

Recent history has numerous examples of how dehumanization helped to support armed conflicts around the globe. The first example was the well known ‘war on terrorism’ started by Bush administration. According to Azlan, President Bush’s administration united “greater Muslim world, from Morocco to Malaysia; by placing them in a single category (“enemy”), assigning them a single identity (“terrorist”)” (para 6). The category of enemy included a wide variety of groups of Muslims from Morocco to Malaysia that have their personalities and differences. However, none of that was acknowledged in the media and official rhetoric of the White House to find the support of the US citizens. The rhetoric was successful until 2009, helping to justify billions of dollars spent on bombing innocent people.

Similar tactics is used today by Putin’s administration to justify the war in Ukraine. People of Russia and Ukraine are closely connected, as people from Ukraine often have friends and relatives living in Russia. Thus, it would be difficult for Putin to wage war on Ukraine with dehumanizing rhetoric. According to Apt, Putin created the idea that the people of Ukraine are suppressed by nationalists and fascists that are not worthy of living. It was the only way for Russian people to support the war, as Russian citizens are unlikely to fight against their friends and relatives; however, fighting against people that suppress their friends and relative in the neighboring country is acceptable. In other words, without dehumanization of the enemy, it would be impossible to start the conflict in Ukraine.

In summary, any war starts with the language, as people of power need to force other to believe that a certain group of individuals can be identified as enemies that are not worth living. While there are many examples of dehumanization in the world, two recent conflicts demonstrate the idea most vividly. In particular, during the ‘war on terrorism’ Bush’s administration tried to dehumanized all the Islamic world by identifying them as terrorists. Similarly, Putin identified the Ukrainian regime as fascists, which allowed him to gain support of the public in the conflict.