Methodology for the Study of Emotions in International Relations
The role of emotions in international relations has long been out of sight of those who carried out research on international relations and foreign policy. In the early 2000s, thanks to the large-scale integration of social constructivism in this field of research, the situation started changing. The analysis of emotions in international relations allows to expand our knowledge of the process of identity construction, the social hierarchy among political groups, national and supranational communities, and also take a fresh look at the development of a state foreign policy, which is transformed into the design field for “Itself” and “others”. The existing works on this topic can be divided into two categories, aimed at using macro and micro-approaches. As part of the macro-approach, researchers are developing a theory about the nature and functions of political emotions. In turn, the micro-approach allows studying emotions in specific political situations, their influence on political behavior and political processes. The article is intended to characterize the landmark methodological works that have recently appeared in Western historiography.