Conspiracy theorists reinterpreted Bush’s new world order rhetoric as coded plotting
Evidence
These concepts were, of course, far removed from what President George H. W. Bush had in mind when he popularized the phrase new world order at the time of the Gulf War of 1991. He drew on a quite different tradition, one which went back many decades and referred to a new and more stable international system associated with effective mechanisms for collective security. This distinction, however, is not one that New World Order writers have found persuasive. Indeed, considering Bush’s past associations with such organizations as Skull and Bones (a secret society at Yale University), the United Nations, and the CIA, it was easy for conspiracists to view his new-world-order references as messages to his fellow plotters. While Bush no doubt thought the phrase suggested a reassuring entry into a post–Cold War world, those who saw conspiracies everywhere saw his open use of the term as evidence of the cabal’s newfound brazenness. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 243
Categorization
- DEFINE: Explains that the legitimate geopolitical meaning of ‘new world order’ long predates Bush’s Gulf War use.
- CANDY: The irony that Bush’s reassuring phrase was read by conspiracists as a signaling act is a lively tidbit.
- XREF: connects to: UFO believers were an unexpected new audience drawn into New World Order conspiracy theory — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 398; Presidential politics mainstreamed conspiracy theory speech — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 449; The New World Order conspiracy reached mainstream discourse through the UFO subculture. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 402
Broader Connections
- UFO believers were an unexpected new audience drawn into New World Order conspiracy theory
#expands(0.83) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 398 - Presidential politics mainstreamed conspiracy theory speech
#corroborates(0.78) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 449