Coordinated Management of Meaning in U.S.-Russia Relations: How Meanings Shaped Communication Surrounding the Potential Invasion of Ukraine

This qualitative discourse analysis applies the coordinated management of meaning theory to examine the diplomatic interactions between the United States and Russia from November 2021 to February 2022, the critical negotiation period preceding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Systematically applying the theory’s hierarchy of meanings model to the official discourse resulted in the segmentation of 1,428 official texts for analysis. Comparative coding of the data exposes how worldviews and recursive feedback patterns shape adversarial postures, perpetuate negotiation impasses, and prevent the emergence of co-constructed meaning. This research illuminates how national meanings are actively constructed and maintained through discursive interaction, reinforcing enduring patterns that limit diplomatic flexibility. The findings provide an actionable theoretical framework for diagnosing international communication failures, highlighting pathways for reconstructing meanings to encourage more productive discursive communication. These insights offer a reconsideration of prevailing power-based paradigms in statecraft, proposing a robust alternative grounded in meaning-making and communicative reflexivity.