Defending Defense

The defense industry is a global enterprise – one dominated by the United States of America. Critics have claimed that contractors within the US defense industry are acting as powerful political entities instead of dutiful agents – not taking environmental and social responsibility and participating in an unhampered distribution of weapons where the goal is to maximize profits while neglecting any ethical responsibility. This research aims to shed light on how the contractors within the US defense industry represent themselves through their corporate communications – especially vis-à-vis their presumed national reputations for and perceived interests in peacemaking. More precisely I uncover the frames utilized by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin in their non-economic reports to defend or legitimize their operations and existence.