Let’s Get Emotional: the Strategic Use of Emotions in China’s Foreign Policy

Abstract

In this article, I assess how states can use emotions as a strategic tool to advance their preferences in international politics. To test the argument in the literature on the significant role that emotions can play in international politics, I examine why China reacted the way it did to the 2008 torch relay fallout in France as a case study. Instead of material power playing a central role in this case, it was what the event (i.e., the torch relay, pro-Tibet protests, and the attempt to seize the torch out of the hands of a Chinese) represented in the minds of Chinese. This case study highlights the significant role that identity and emotions play in international politics.