Emotions in International Politics

In recent years, social scientists have increasingly recognized the interconnectedness of thought on emotions. Nowhere is the role of passions more evident than international politics, where pride, anger, guilt, fear, empathy, and other feelings are routinely on display. But in the absence of an overarching theory of emotions, how can we understand their role at the international level? Emotions in International Politics fills the need for theoretical tools in the new and rapidly growing subfield of international relations. Eminent scholars from a range of disciplines consider how emotions can be investigated from an international perspective involving collective players, drawing evidence from such emotionally fraught events as the Rwandan genocide, World War II, the 9/11 attacks, and the Iranian nuclear standoff. The path-breaking research collected in Emotions in International Politics will be a valuable theoretical guide to understanding conflict and cooperation in international relations.

It is undeniable that emotions play a pivotal role in international relations: from the attacks of 9/11 to the Iranian nuclear standoff, national pride and anger are regularly on display. This book provides an essential theoretical guide to the new field studying this emotion, for scholars and students.

Preface Richard Ned Lebow; Introduction Yohan Ariffin; Part I. Towards an Interdisciplinary Analysis of Emotions in International Politics: 1. The question of emotions and passions in mainstream international relations, and beyond Jean-Marc Coicaud; 2. Emotion and change: where history comes in Peter N. Stearns; 3. The sociology of face-to-face emotions James M. Jasper; 4. From intersubjectivity to international relations: the teachings of the 'emotive turn' of cognitive science? Jean-Michel Roy; 5. Emotions of uncertainty, competition, and cooperation in the international financial sector Jocelyn Pixley; 6. Exploring the nexus of emotions/passions, values, and rights in international affairs Jean-Marc Coicaud; 7. Psychoanalysis and the study of emotions in international politics Pierre de Senarclens; 8. Emotions and international law Vesselin Popovski; Part II. Emotions in Foreign Policy Decision Making and in War and Peace: 9. Assessing the role of emotives in international relations Yohan Ariffin; 10. The role of emotions in foreign policy decision making: embarrassment from the Bay of Pigs Assia Alexieva; 11. Shadow of guilt: US Rwandese relations after 1994 genocide Ainius Lasas; 12. Emotions and passions of death and the making of World War II: the cases of Germany and Japan Jean-Marc Coicaud; 13. From group identity to ethnic violence Pierre de Senarclens; 14. Exceptionalism, counterterrorism, and the emotional politics of human rights Andrew Ross; 15. The dialectic of rage: how anger, fear, pride, and some other passion combine, interact, and fight each other in the post-Cold War world Pierre Hassner; 16. Transforming conflict: trust, empathy, and dialogue Naomi Head; 17. The role of emotives in the international management of plant genetic resources Yohan Ariffin; Conclusion Jean-Marc Coicaud.