Donald Trump’s Strategic Narratives in U.S.–Iran Geopolitical Contestation in the Middle East
Abstract
Abstrak
Kontestasi geopolitik Amerika Serikat–Iran melibatkan persaingan dalam mendefinisikan ancaman, keamanan, dan legitimasi kebijakan luar negeri. Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis konstruksi narasi strategis Donald Trump, menjelaskan strategi legitimasi kebijakan Amerika Serikat, dan mengembangkan model konseptual kontestasi narasi. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan analisis narasi strategis yang mencakup dimensi narasi sistem, identitas, dan isu. Bahan analisis meliputi pidato, pernyataan resmi, dokumen kebijakan, dan materi media periode 2025–2026, disertai perspektif diplomatik, akademik, dan masyarakat sipil. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa narasi Trump merepresentasikan Iran sebagai ancaman terhadap keamanan regional, sedangkan Amerika Serikat diposisikan sebagai penjamin stabilitas melalui tekanan maksimum dan perdamaian melalui kekuatan. Strategi legitimasinya menggabungkan konstruksi ancaman, polarisasi identitas, personalisasi kepemimpinan, serta ancaman koersif dan tawaran negosiasi. Analisis mengidentifikasi tiga bentuk kontranarasi: diplomatik negara, akademik geopolitik, dan normatif masyarakat sipil. Berdasarkan temuan tersebut, penelitian mengusulkan Model Narasi Geopolitik Trump yang menghubungkan konstruksi narasi, legitimasi kebijakan, kontranarasi, penangkalan balasan, dan umpan balik. Model ini menawarkan kerangka interpretatif untuk memahami hubungan antara komunikasi politik dan kontestasi geopolitik, tanpa mengasumsikan bahwa narasi secara langsung menentukan penerimaan audiens atau keberhasilan kebijakan.
Kata Kunci: Narasi strategis; komunikasi politik; hubungan Amerika Serikat–Iran; kontranarasi; diplomasi koersif; legitimasi kebijakan.
Abstract
U.S.–Iran geopolitical contestation involves competing attempts to define threats, security, and the legitimacy of foreign policy. This study examines Donald Trump’s strategic narratives, analyzes their role in legitimizing U.S. policies, and develops a conceptual model of narrative contestation. It adopts a qualitative approach informed by strategic narrative analysis across system, identity, and issue dimensions. The analysis examines speeches, official statements, policy documents, and media materials from 2025–2026 alongside diplomatic, academic, and civil society perspectives. The findings indicate that Trump’s narratives portray Iran as a threat to regional security while positioning the United States as a guarantor of stability through maximum pressure and peace through strength. Legitimation strategies combine threat construction, identity polarization, personalized leadership, and coercive threats with negotiation offers. The analysis identifies three forms of counternarrative: state-diplomatic, academic-geopolitical, and normative-civil society. Building on these findings, the study proposes the Trump Geopolitical Narrative Model, linking narrative construction, policy legitimation, counternarratives, counterdeterrence, and feedback. The model provides an interpretive framework for examining political communication within geopolitical contestation without assuming that narratives directly determine audience acceptance or policy success.
Keywords: Strategic narratives; political communication; U.S.–Iran relations; counternarratives; coercive diplomacy; policy legitimation.
References
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