American foreign policy must operate within the parameters of public opinion, and governmental and non-governmental actors must educate the characteristically alienated citizenry concerning policy issues. Since rational discourse is of limited benefit in the process, advocates instead use verbal representations or metaphor to instill within the public acceptance or rejection of policy. Metaphor (in the form of emotive symbols and narratives) sometimes evolves into a rhetorical icon that controls the legitimacy of foreign policy and subsequent governmental actions. This iconic perspective suggests the rationale for the often paradoxical state of U.S. foreign policy. The outcome of the Reykjavik (Iceland) Meeting in October 1986 between President Reagan and Soviet Chairman Gorbachev was especially problematic for the American government because of the continuation of the Strategic Defense Initiative as a viable policy. To defuse this problem, Reagan administration staff pursued the strategy of redefining the meetings by using emotive symbols to link SDI with an insurance policy or an effective shield and by using narratives that illustrated the tenacity of Reagan in dealing with the Soviets, thus emphasizing a strong presidency. This rhetorical bonding of SDI by metaphor allowed the White House to redefine the failed Iceland summit meeting as successful. If the aftermath cements SDI as an icon, SDI will be difficult to eliminate. This iconological approach of the U.S. government indicates why its commitments sometimes become impractical or dangerous international policies. (Sixty-six footnotes are appended.) (NKA)