Emotions in EU foreign policy–when and how do they matter?

Abstract

Despite the increasing importance of emotions in explaining political behaviour, the study of emotions in EU policies and politics remains still very limited. The core objective of this special issue is to fill this gap by shedding light on the role of ‘emotions’ in EU foreign policy and to launch a call to EU foreign policy scholars for taking emotions seriously. By analysing multiple foreign policy cases across different geographies and by elucidating the plurality of emotions expressed by the EU, the contributions to this special issue show how and when emotions bear an impact on the EU’s foreign policy decisions and actions in the cases of international norm violations by external actors. The introduction sets the framework for analysing different roles that emotions might play in EU foreign policy by introducing enabling and constraining mechanisms, whereby the EU’s emotional expressions lead to action/inaction through its institutionalised appraisal process.