Ending Wars as Political Signal

When a president repeatedly frames limited military or covert operations as 'ending wars,' the rhetorical framing functions less as an operational claim and more as a domestic political signal that consolidates support, justifies exceptional executive action, and normalizes spectacle‑driven interventions. — This reframing matters because it explains how foreign‑policy gestures become tools of domestic legitimation, changing how democracies should audit, authorize, and respond to rapid, high‑visibility operations.