The photographs in Defense Language show costumed role-players, elaborate Hollywood-inspired sets and staged tableaus on military bases across the United States. Artist Claire Beckett embedded herself on these bases between 2006 and 2023 to explore the depiction of Arabs and Muslims during counterinsurgency training for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Published November 2025
280 x 227 mm
192pp, 136 images
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-915423-98-6