Rhetorical situation

Speaker

The speaker of the Speech on Radicalization, Islamic Extremism and the Failure of State Multiculturalism is David Cameron. At the time the speech was delivered, Cameron was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. In the speech, Cameron expresses his beliefs on radicalization and the causes of terrorism, claiming that state multiculturalism has failed. 

From the beginning of the speech, Cameron identifies with Europe and speaks on behalf of the European countries facing terrorist threats:

The biggest threat that we face comes from terrorist attacks, some of which are, sadly, carried out by our own citizens (…) we should acknowledge that this threat comes in Europe overwhelmingly from young men who follow a completely perverse, warped interpretation of Islam…

This way, Cameron portrays himself as a concerned politician who is aware of the issues that are common everywhere in Europe. Moreover, he claims that Europe “needs to wake up” and focus on the issues affecting its countries from within, as the problem lies there, not in the Middle East. Throughout his speech, Cameron uses the plural “we” to create a sense of community throughout Europe and to convince his audience of the importance of ta...