European politics are becoming increasingly emotional. But in times of war and rising autocratic populism, rational policy choices depend upon emotions to be effective. Özlem Terzi and Seda Gürkan argue that it's time for policy makers to start paying attention to fear and anger, but also to positive feelings
Europe is living through an emotional period. Citizens fear the nuclear threat, the possibility of war in EU member states, and escalation of the Israel-Gaza conflict. As a result, European politics have an increasingly emotional charge. Gone are the days when we could view EU foreign policy solely in rational, objective terms.
Indeed, emotions have always been part of rationality. Whether it's how we perceive who we are or what values we hold, emotions inform the rationality of human beings – and of states. Despite this, EU foreign policy is often considered to be unemotional, dry, and bureaucratic. To demonstrate the role of emotions, we co-edited a Special Issue of the Journal of European Integration in July 2024.
Our motivation was to find out under which conditions emotions manifested in EU foreign policy. We were also curious about when these emotions would turn into policy action, and when not. Nathalie Tocci, prominent scholar and former advisor to the EU's High Representative, has argued that the EU is paralysed by fear when it comes to foreign policy. In compiling the Special Issue, would we discover that fear could also enable certain policies? Would certain policies be constrained when positive emotions came into play?
In our research, the main triggers of emotional arousal in the EU were breaches of international norms. With this in mind, we outlined how emotions eventually led to EU action, and how they constrained other potential policy outcomes. This may sound like we were aiming to produce a grand-theory, but our only aim was to make the case for the relevance of emotions in EU foreign policy.
How and when emotions matter depends on the EU's self-perception, identity, and what it defines as EU interests
We concluded that emotions do matter in EU foreign policy. How and when they matter, however, depends on the EU's self-perception, identity, and what it defines as EU interests. Once emotions started influencing policy, we saw how they can play four distinct roles that EU foreign policy-makers should consider:
First, emotions construct and sustain a community of values. They frame the social and cultural context in which the EU makes decisions, and they reinforce the EU's collective memory. Referencing traumas such as the Holocaust and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, EU institutional actors reconstruct the emotional community upon which the EU’s identity is founded.
Second, emotions are closely linked to the othering dynamics in EU relations with third countries. The expression of emotions by EU institutional actors can create emotional boundaries in international relations between norm followers and norm breakers. For example, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the EU condemned Russia's actions using negative, emotionally-loaded words.
Third, emotions can influence the normative framework in which the EU operates. As emotions get attached to certain norms, they shape the policies the EU embraces in the international arena. Emotions such as fear of climate change or concerns over geopolitical rivalry serve to prioritise certain commitments over others. One example is the EU’s Arctic policy, in which emotions have created a conflict of norms by constructing a hierarchy of the EU's international commitments.
Emotions such as fear of climate change or concerns over geopolitical rivalry serve to prioritise certain commitments over others
In the EU’s relationship with a key non-EU country – as with the US under the Trump administration – feelings of contempt could shake how the EU approaches multilateralism and the norms of diplomatic communication among its friends. In the same vein, emotions can alter leaders’ approach to norms.
Finally, emotions can enable or constrain the EU’s action or inaction in world politics. The expression of emotions frames foreign policy options, and locks in subsequent EU action. Emotions can also change EU foreign policy behaviour if there is a coherent expression of emotion among EU institutional actors. This, of course, depends on power relations among member states. In other words, on whose emotions matter.
The expression of emotions can frame foreign policy options and lock in subsequent EU action
Emotions could also change diplomats’ perceptions of developments in EU foreign policy, and their reactions to these developments. We see this, for example, in the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary developments in Egypt. By contrast, emotions could also prevent the EU from acting. Take, for example, the emotional resonance of the term 'genocide', which the EU is reluctant to use, despite evidence of mass atrocities in some cases. This inhibition leads to the EU’s failure to act.
So, emotions do matter in EU foreign policy, especially during these volatile geopolitical days. EU policy makers should care about citizens' feelings, and diplomats must learn to speak the language of emotion. At a time of war and rising autocratic populism, the EU cannot make successful policy choices without also considering the emotions of the recipients of its policies.
