The Oxford Handbook of Emotions in International Relations

by Koschut, Simon; Ross, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780197698532
• ISBN10: 0197698530
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780197698549
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2026-01-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Author Biography

Simon Koschut is Professor of International Security at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, Germany. His research interests are international relations, in particular regional security governance, norms and emotions in world politics. Previously, he was a DFG Heisenberg fellow and visiting professor at Freie Universität Berlin, Fritz Thyssen Fellow at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and Fulbright Scholar at San Francisco State University. He is currently leading a research project on "Affective Contestation" that looks at how emotions underpin transnational protest against EU migration policies.

Andrew Ross is Research Professor in the International Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University. He has research interests relating to populism, participatory media, emotion, and authority in world politics. In addition to the book Mixed Emotions: Beyond Fear and Hatred in International Conflict, his work theorizing the role of emotions in IR has been published in Millennium, International Theory, the European Journal of International Relations, International Organization, and Political Psychology.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. The Emotional Turn in International Relations
Simon Koschut

PART I: Theoretical debates
2. Emotions and Response in a Contingent World
Janice Gross Stein
3. Collective Emotions Beyond the State in Global Politics
Ty Solomon
4. Emotions as Tools for Action
Eric Van Rythoven
5. Empathy and the Politicization of Emotions
Naomi Head
6. Ethical Anxiety in Global Politics
Brent J. Steele

PART II: Actors
7. Leader Convergence and the Emotional Dynamics of Nuclear Crises
Marcus Holmes and Nicholas Wheeler
8. States-As-Groups and State Emotions
Brent E. Sasley
9. Emotions and Expert Authority in Global Governance
Amoz JY Hor and Jittip Mongkolnchaiarunya
10. Excavating the Emotional Nongovernmental Organization
Deepa Prakash
11. Emotions in Terrorism and Political Violence
Stéphane J. Baele and Jérémy Dieudonné
12. The Technological Mediation of Emotions in World Politics
Daniel Møller Ølgaard

PART III: Challenges
13. Emotional Governance and Authoritarian Populism
Catarina Kinnvall
14. Resentment and Grievance
Jelena Subotic
15. The Role of Emotions in Foreign Policy Decision-Making
Payam Ghalehdar
16. Emotions and Interpersonal Diplomacy
Seanon S. Wong
17. Emotional Energy in Conflict, Repression, and Violence
Isabel Bramsen
18. Emotions and Solidarity in the Global South
Lina Benabdallah
19. Nuclear Weapons and Emotion
Michelle Bentley
20. The Emotions in Transitional Justice
Renée Jeffery
21. Emotions and Economic Crises
Wesley W. Widmaier
22. Promises and Limits of Empathy for Global Cooperation
A. Burcu Bayram
23. Climate Emotions
Leonie Holthaus
24. Emotions in Migration Studies
Michelle Pace

PART IV: Concepts
25. Emotions and Ontological Security
Bahar Rumelili and Batur Ozan Togay
26. Power and Emotion in International Relations
Todd H. Hall
27. The Emotional Politics of Status (Mis-)recognition
Élise Rousseau
28. Affect Theory and Global Racial Violence
Alexander Barder
29. Engaging with Emotions in International Law
Anne Saab
30. Feminism, Embodiment, and the Politics of Emotions
Linda Åhäll
31. Emotions and the Visual Representation of Human Suffering
Jessica Auchter
32. Entangled Emotions and Quantum Social
Theory K. M. Fierke
33. Emotions, Colonial Trauma, and Brazil's Desire for International Validation
Erica Resende and Paula Sandrin

PART V: Implications
34. Thinking-Feeling-Doing International Relations Research
Laura J. Shepherd and Laura Sjoberg
35. Emotional Futures and the Future of Emotions in International Relations
Andrew A. G. Ross