ABUSE of rhetoric led Britain to invade Iraq in the same way the Nazis used oral propaganda to mobilise for war, a leading communications professor in East London argues.
Rhetoric is effective in manipulating mass consciousness, its ‘misuse’ having pushed sinister causes throughout history, Prof Nicholas O’Shaughnessy will state in his inaugural lecture at Queen Mary London university college at Mile End on March 10.
“Rhetoric is a remarkable tool of persuasive communication,” he explains. “Good rhetoric resonates. It fizzles in the mind.
“But it is also one of the most frightening things the human race possesses. In the wrong hands, it can also misdirect perceptions, befuddle and corrupt.”
His talk focuses on rhetoric by Tony Blair and George Bush prior to the Iraq invasion.
It will also look at the use of oral propaganda by Hitler in Nazi Germany and the rhetoric of Osama Bin Laden and other terrorist leaders.
“Rhetoric now dominates business, politics, law and government,” he says. “But its abuse is rife.
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