Words are a source of immense power. We use words not only to communicate and express our thoughts, but also to shape thought itself. Rhetorical power is a way of constituting the audiences to whom it is addressed" by furnishing [listeners] with the very equipment they need to assess its use-the metaphors, categories, and concepts of... dis-course." These rhetorical devices are not neutral, value-free tools. 2 Rhetors select them, consciously or unconsciously, to fit their purposes and to accord with their own, and their audience's, values, worldview, and perception of reality. 3 Governments choose and utilize them carefully not only vis-h-vis their own domestic audiences, but also to represent the status, values, and positioning of the state vis-h-vis other states, international institutions and organizations, and international and transnational legal and political forums. The notion of the neutrality of language is linked to the view of human reason as" conscious, literal, logical, universal, unemotional, disembodied, and serv [ing] self-interest." 4 One of the main attributes of being human has traditionally been considered the ability to transcend and overcome our emotions, make decisions, and take actions that are based on disembodied logic. 5 According to this long-held view, emotions impede our ability to think and make decisions" rationally" and must be constantly checked and controlled. 6 Plato analogized the binary approach of separating human reason and rationality from irrational emotions to a chariot harnessed to two winged horses-one representing rational impulses and positive (ie, moral) emotions and the other representing negative or irrational emotions. The chariot's driver represents reason, which needs to prevail over the horses in order to steer the soul in its search for truth. 7 Yet, the strict binary separation between, and juxtaposition of, rationality and emotion has been challenged by insights from modern cognitive and brain research." Rather than seeing emotions as undermining reason, we have come to regard them as playing an essential role in how we, in fact, reason. 9 Decision-making de-