Still-not-yet

Abstract As numerous scholars have documented, the United States has had an active military presence around the globe since the end of World War II which has enabled it to intervene in numerous countries and regions. It is within this context that I examine how peace has been conceptualized in the State of the Union addresses delivered by postwar US presidents. Grounded in a Systemic Functional Linguistic framework, my analysis reveals that peace is conceptualized primarily through aspirational, goal-oriented language which renders it as a potential condition that could/might/will be realized at some future moment. The futurity of peace is conveyed through a range of linguistic and discursive features which place peace at a remove from the present moment. The temporal deferral of peace, I argue, suggests that rather than pursuing a Kantian “perpetual peace” postwar US presidents have proposed actions and policies oriented to a perpetual quest for peace.