This course investigates what rhetorical and material discursive factors that shape the framing of security challenges such as military interventions, as well as  the framing of key security decisions. The course begins by examining various theories used to deepen the understanding of the communities who shape foreign policy discourse as rhetoric, decisions and policies. It then examines actors who shape consciousness about phenomena framed as threats. Several key actors are identified including: (a) experts; (b) think tanks and government agencies; (c) the military industrial complex and coalitions of state power aligning groups; (d) social movements and (e) the media. The course will show how various actors might shape foreign policy discourse, the spaces in which they operate, and the way in which foreign policy is being implemented. The framing and understanding of public opinion in reference to the foreign policy discourse is critically assessed.