What’s in a Name? The Use of Status Recognition as a Bargaining Signal

• In Event: Credibility, Signaling, & Coercion

Abstract

In 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to rain fire and fury upon North Korea, then abruptly dove fully into a policy of engagement with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, a mere year later. At the same time, the State Department shifted its recognition of Kim from referring to him with no official title, to almost exclusively calling him “Chairman Kim,” his own preferred title. What explains this abrupt shift in rhetoric used to confer or withhold respect and status to Kim? And what does that shift say about the bargaining position of major powers vis-a-vis their potential negotiating partner? Using North Korea as our primary case study, this paper will examine how forms of address used by a state towards another can signal its intentions long before the two parties sit down at the table. This furthers existing work on the importance of rhetorical dynamics in foreign policy and the broader international structure, including the importance of status for diplomatic exchange, and how public rhetoric can help or hinder negotiations.

Author

• Jenna Gibson, University of Chicago