Abstract: The series “Homeland” is a popular American television series that aired on Showtime Networks for 8 seasons between 2011 and 2020. The series, in the intelligence-crime-action-thriller genre, was developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa based on the Israeli TV series “Hatufim” (“Prisoners of War” in English) and created by Gideon Raff. The series, which attracted great attention worldwide and quickly became a phenomenon by winning Golden Globe awards, immediately stood out among its peers by delving into controversial political issues and presenting a security-oriented political perspective. In addition to the series’ high-level cinematographic quality, the series’ choice of subject matter and the security-oriented and realistic political perspective it presented were also very effective in this success. In this study, information will be provided about this phenomenon series and then the phenomenon of “securitization politics” in popular culture will be analyzed in the context of the topics covered in the first 4 seasons of the series and the perspective presented.
Keywords: Homeland, Securitization, Popular Culture.
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INTRODUCTION
The series “Homeland” is a popular American television series that aired on Showtime Networks for 8 seasons between 2011 and 2020 (Imdb.com). The series, which is an intelligence-crime-action-thriller, was developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa based on the Israeli TV series Hatufim (Turkish: “Prisoners of War”, English: “Prisoners of War”) and created by Gideon Raff (Imdb.com). The leading actors in the series are Claire Danes as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Carrie Mathison, Mandy Patinkin as CIA chief Saul Berenson, Rupert Friend as CIA hitman Peter Quinn, F. Murray Abraham as another CIA chief Dar Adal, and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, an American soldier who is captured by Al Qaeda and turned into a radical Islamist terrorist (Imdb.com). The series, which attracted great attention worldwide and won Golden Globe awards, quickly became a phenomenon, and immediately stood out among its peers by delving into controversial political issues and presenting a security-oriented political perspective. In addition to the high quality of the series, the choice of topics and the security and realist political perspective it offers have also been very effective in this success.
In this article, information will be given about this phenomenal series and then the phenomenon of “securitization politics” in popular culture will be discussed in the context of the topics covered in the first 4 seasons of the series and the perspective offered. To do this, the author first will analyze the main characters and themes of the series in the first 4 seasons. Secondly, the “securitization” theory will be explained shortly. In the third and final part, “Homeland” tv series’ securitization cases will be exemplified and criticized.
HOMELAND SERIES: CHARACTERS AND TOPICS COVERED IN THE FIRST FOUR SEASONS
“Homeland” series is basically about the American intelligence agency CIA’s fight against security threats in the world. In the first 3 seasons, the main players in the series are; Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), a talented CIA agent with bipolar disorder, Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), an experienced CIA chief and powerful enough to direct the CIA’s security policies, and Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a United States (U.S.) Army personnel who was kidnapped by Al Qaeda and tortured for 7 years before being rescued and returning to his country as a hero. In the following seasons, the ruthless CIA hitman Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend), who carries out every order he receives without question, and another CIA chief Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham), who is in competition with Berenson, will also become the main players of the series, and as of season 3, the Brody character (who is executed in Iran) will not be in the series. Apart from these people, the series also features dozens of interesting side characters.
The series, which was broadcasted for 8 seasons and 96 episodes and was followed with interest in Türkiye, was intended to be shot in Türkiye for one season (season 4) upon the request of the production company; however, the Turkish government did not allow the shooting due to concerns that Iran’s money laundering activities in the series would also make Türkiye look bad (Cumhuriyet, 2014). Thereupon, the character of Carrie Mathison, who was initially assigned to Istanbul according to the script, was assigned to Pakistan as a result of later developments.
The first season of the series focuses on the character Nicholas Brody, who returns to his country as a hero after being held captive by Al Qaeda and begins to rise rapidly in politics, and tells the story of Brody’s experiences after his return to the U.S. From the first day, CIA analyst Carrie Mathison thinks that Brody may have been brainwashed due to the torture and events he was subjected to during his captivity and suspects that he is a terrorist. For this reason, Mathison, who uses many legal and illegal methods to follow Brody, has problems with her chief and master Berenson and his superior David Estes (David Harewood) on this issue and even has to lose her job in the end. The Mathison-Saul duo constantly keep Brody, who is seen as a great hero throughout the country, under surveillance outside of the official activities of the organization. Indeed, as a result of the severe torture he was subjected to and the psychological techniques used on him, Nicholas Brody has become a Muslim sympathizer of Al Qaeda, but he hides it very well. At the end of the season, Brody gets the chance to kill the Vice President of the U.S. and the important people with him; but luckily, he cannot carry out the operation because the bomb mechanism of the assassination vest he is wearing does not work. However, before this action, he records a video in which he confesses everything and explains what he has done, and this video recording is stolen from the place he hid in his house.
The second season continues with Saul and Carrie following Brody as a continuation of the first season. Brody, who is elected as a congressman, becomes a double agent thanks to Carrie’s efforts, with whom he begins a love affair, and begins to provide information to both the CIA and Al Qaeda. The CIA is particularly interested in Abu Nazir (Navid Negahban), who organized many terrorist attacks and lost his son in an airstrike carried out by the U.S. while Brody was being held captive. Although Nazir thinks that Brody is playing both sides, he thinks that he can help the organization if he reaches a good position in politics, and for this reason, he does not lose contact with him. In fact, Brody kills the Vice President in accordance with his orders. Now, his path to becoming the Vice President of the U.S. has been opened, and Nazir is the one who is the happiest about this. However, Nazir, who came to the U.S. thanks to the information Brody gave, is killed. At the end of the season, as a result of an action organized by Al Qaeda, who wanted to take revenge on Nazir, dozens of agency employees die in a huge explosion at the CIA headquarters in Langley. Although Brody had nothing to do with this attack, the video he recorded for his previous action was leaked to the media by Nazir’s men. Thus, everyone thinks that Brody did the action. Brody escapes the country with the help of Carrie.
In the third season, Brody tries to hide in Caracas, Venezuela, but is made addicted to drugs by the men who hide and detain him there. After David Estes’ death in the explosion, Saul Berenson, who became the interim director of the CIA, intensifies his activities against Iranian intelligence together with Carrie. At this point, Saul, who implements a great deception plan, makes it seem like Carrie has been expelled from the organization and excluded, and closely follows the efforts of Iranian intelligence to get close to her. As a result of these studies, Majid Javadi (Shaun Toub), the number two name in Iranian intelligence, is convinced by Saul and Carrie to work for the U.S. The plan is simple; Javadi will be put in charge of Iranian intelligence and will act in coordination with Saul to prevent a possible U.S.-Iran war. In return, the CIA will not give documents related to Javadi’s corruption to Iran. For this purpose, Nicolas Brody, who was rescued from Caracas, was secretly brought back to the U.S. and prepared for the operation, crossed the Iraqi border and surrendered to Iranian security forces. Brody, who was welcomed as a hero in Iran, fulfilled the responsibility he had taken on with great courage despite the conditions being against him and killed Danesh Akbari, the number one name in Iranian intelligence. However, Brody was later caught and executed by hanging in Iran. Carrie, who was depressed due to Brody’s death, officially returned to the organization and was appointed as the chief in Istanbul. Thanks to the work of Saul and Javadi, a nuclear agreement was made between the U.S. and Iran and the risk of war was eliminated.
In the fourth season, Carrie starts working in Pakistan instead of Istanbul as a result of a change of duty. Due to the murder of CIA station chief Sandy Bachman, who was serving in Pakistan, relations between this country and the U.S. are tense. In addition, Pakistani intelligence is also organizing counter-operations against the CIA and putting them in a very difficult situation. Especially because Dennis Boyd, the academic husband of U.S. Ambassador Dana Boyd, who is serving in Pakistan, gives information to Pakistani intelligence, the CIA’s business is going very badly. Another important problem is the activities of Haissam Haqqani (Numan Acar), a terrorist leader similar to Osama Bin Laden. Haqqani organizes the kidnapping of Saul and in return ensures the release of many Al Qaeda militants. Some people from Pakistani intelligence also help him. However, Haqqani’s plan is not limited to this; thanks to the information received from Dennis Boyd, a major terrorist attack is carried out on the U.S. Embassy. Many people are killed there. Peter Quinn decides to kill Haqqani himself for revenge. However, when Carrie sees Dar Adal with Haqqani, everything changes. The CIA has made a deal with Haqqani. Carrie, angry at this situation, leaves the agency and starts working in a private company in Germany. Peter Quinn takes on dangerous missions in Syria.
THE SECURITIZATION PHENOMENON
The concept of “securitization”, which first entered the academic literature in 1995 with the writings of Ole Waever (1995), later became an important approach in the field of International Relations thanks to the work of the Copenhagen School (Durak, 2024: 336-350). The Copenhagen School has a Realism-based and security-focused approach, the most important representatives of which can be considered as Barry Buzan, Ole Waever and Jaap de Wilde. The book Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Buzan & Waever & De Wilde, 1997) written by this trio is the cornerstone work of this school. According to Gözügüzelli, the Copenhagen School, which brought a new security idea to contemporary security studies and provided an analysis of security, emerged after the 1980s, but it is a school whose work came to the forefront with the end of the Cold War and accelerated security studies (Gözügüzelli, 2016: 678).
According to Ole Waever, who founded this school, security refers to the existence of a security threat and the situation in which certain measures are taken against it (Waever, 1995: 7). Insecurity, on the other hand, describes a situation in which there is a security problem but no adequate measures are taken or a response is given. According to Baysal and Lüleci; “The securitization theory, which has a constructivist basis, sees security as a speech act. According to the theory; security issues are constructed as security threats through speech acts. In this way, it becomes legitimate to resort to extraordinary means against constructed security threats. Those in power can choose to legitimize the sanctions they will impose by presenting the issues for which they want to take extraordinary measures as security threats.” (Baysal & Lüleci, 2015: 63).
In this context, the politics of securitization follows the following order; first, issues that are not politicized and do not fall within the scope of the state’s interest are politicized and turned into political agenda items through speech acts. Later, the issue that has been made political is treated as containing security risks, and the issue is presented as a threatening issue in which the state is the rule maker and even a monopoly. In this way, the state is prevented from dominating this area and developing movements that are against or independent of it. The table that Başar Baysal and Çağla Lüleci use in their articles should be used to illustrate this (Baysal & Lüleci, 2015: 75):
Table I. The logic of securitization
The opposite of this, “desecuritization”, is when a phenomenon, action or person that was previously considered a threat is no longer considered a threat. According to Gözügüzelli, if a problem does not attract the attention of politicians for a long time, it will resolve itself (Gözügüzelli, 2016: 681). Or, in a way that is the opposite of the securitization process, an issue can be transformed from a security issue into a purely political issue over time, and its political aspect can be eroded and it will cease to be a problem in the future.
HOMELAND SERIES AND THE POLITICS OF SECURITIZATION
When the episodes of the first four seasons of the “Homeland” series are examined, it can be easily noticed that the production securitizes certain issues and facts in line with the main line of American foreign policy and security understanding which is based on the fear of radical or extremist Islamic movements.
First of all, the Nicholas Brody character defines people who are captured by Al Qaeda and similar terrorist organizations as a serious security risk. Indeed, Brody first becomes a Muslim as a result of what is done to him here, and then becomes an Al Qaeda activist. Again, the reactions shown to him by his family members after it was noticed that Brody started praying in his garage after his return to the U.S. show that Islam and religious rituals and practices in accordance with Islam are also perceived as a security issue in line with widespread American tendencies. For sure, this trend did not start with the “Homeland” series and is closely related to how the Islamic world is perceived in the Western world and the state of Muslim societies due to economic and political problems. However, the series reproduces such popular images and discourses, feeds them and makes them even stronger. Although the series emphasizes that not all Muslims are bad or terrorists through characters such as the headscarf-wearing CIA employee and accountant, it is possible to say that the general perspective is extremely prejudiced regarding Muslims. This situation is also very much in line with the conservative/nationalist “Christian” politics of U.S. President Donald Trump.
In this context, the external threat countries chosen as targets in the series are also very important. The Muslim geography, which hosts Al Qaeda and similar terrorist organizations, and especially countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and (Islamic Republic of) Iran, are shown as the most risky and hostile countries in terms of American intelligence in the series. According to the series, Arabs are a nation that provides natural resources to terrorist organizations and, like the character Nazir, are fundamentally against the West. In addition, although Pakistan was until recently a country that has very close relations with the U.S., it is portrayed quite negatively in the series and it is emphasized that Pakistani intelligence and Al Qaeda work together. Iran is also presented as a dangerous country that organizes terrorist acts and intelligence operations against the U.S.; however, the view that an agreement with this country would be more beneficial is reflected in the series, reminiscent of the nuclear agreement made during the Barack Obama period.
Again, it is quite striking that the U.S. is presented in the series as the side that represents what is right, good, and beautiful in every subject. Of course, the U.S. is a democratic and human rights-respecting state and is one of the most comfortable countries in the world to live in in many ways. However, no country can be 100 % right on every subject. The U.S. has also made and continues to make many mistakes in its foreign and domestic policies in the past and today. The racism problem in the American society and widespread violence-based crimes show that the American system has also its own problems in terms of human rights and democracy. Therefore, a more balanced narrative language can be expected to be used in such productions. “Homeland” series in this sense was educative and also open to critical thinking in terms of its securitization efforts of Islam and the Muslim world.
CONCLUSION
This study tried to analyze American-made popular tv series “Homeland” in terms of its securitization efforts. The views and stereotype-based patterns reflected in the “Homeland” series and similar films may not be considered unjust and unjustified when the terrorist acts are also taken into consideration. However, the critical issue here is what will be securitized. Making a religion a total security issue may actually lead to events that could lead to greater security risks. Because monotheistic religions with billions of believers are very powerful discourses that have survived for hundreds of years. Therefore, distinguishing between religion itself and those who engage in politics based on religion, and even those who see the use of violence as legitimate in this politics, is one of the points to be considered when making a securitization discourse in popular culture.
Ozan ÖRMECİ
Full Professor, Istanbul Kent University
ORCID: 0000-0001-8850-6089
Email: ozanormeci@kent.edu.tr
REFERENCES
[1] Başar Baysal & Çağla Lüleci (2015), “Kopenhag Okulu ve Güvenlikleştirme Teorisi”, Güvenlik Stratejileri, Vol. 11, no: 22, pp. 61-96.
[2] Barry Buzan & Ole Waever & Jaap De Wilde (1997), Security: A New Framework for Analysis, Lynne Rienner Pub.
[3] Cumhuriyet (2014), “Türkiye Homeland dizisinin çekimlerine izin vermedi”, 03.10.2014, https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye-homeland-dizisinin-cekimlerine-izin-vermedi-126813.
[4] Görkem Durak (2024), “Contribution of Copenhagen school to the security studies”, Ordu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Sosyal Bilimler Araştırmaları Dergisi, Vol. 14, no: 1, pp. 336-350.
[5] Emete Gözügüzelli (2016), “Belçika’da Güvenlikleştirilen Sözde Ermeni Soykırımı, İslamofobi ve Belçika Türkleri”, in Ozan Örmeci & Hüseyin Işıksal (eds.), Mavi Elma: Türkiye-Avrupa İlişkileri, pp. 677-705.
[6] Imdb.com, “Homeland”, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1796960/.
[7] Ole Waever (1995), “Securitization and Desecuritization”, in Ronnie D. Lipschutz (ed.), On Security, New York: Columbia University Press.
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