Visuell makt – en krigsförklaring

Sammanfattning

The objective of this paper is to examine a case-study on the satellite images presented by Collin Powell in the U.N. security council in 2003. This is done through a discourse analysis with visual securitization as the main theory. The papers focus is the satellite imagery that Powell used to present a fabricated evidence on the Iraqi regime and its weapons of mass destruction program. However, the paper also analyzes other speeches linked to the invasion of Iraq and other material to illustrate in which dominated discourse these satellite images could gain visual power. The main purpose is to understand how the satellite images where remediated, securitized and how that could bring the images to act in a regime of truth. The result is that the images where acting in a regime of truth given the dominated discourse. The American administration had already made up its mind about Iraq long before the images where presented. The sole purpose for Powell to present the so-called evidence in the security council was an attempt to convince the world to believe in the same narrative about Iraq as American politicians did. It is a great danger when imagery acts in a regime of truth on a political level. The visual gives policymakers the power to present “the objective truth” but trough remediation actually can fabricate it given the discourse. The use of the visual in international politics therefore contains a lot of power and it is vital to understand this power in international politics.