Claiming respect. Tracing the socio-emotional dimension of Russia's relations with the West.
Final Report Abstract
The project explored the socio-emotional dimension of Russian relations with the West, claiming that social recognition as a great power by the West is intrinsically important for Russian policy-makers. Disrespect of that self-defined identity and lack of recognition triggers anger and alters the dynamic of the relationship with the West towards an increasingly uncooperative and assertive policy stance. Taking the assumptions from social psychology seriously that perceived status disrespect triggers and amplifies feelings of anger, the project asked: Is there a connection between felt status deprivation and non-cooperation/more assertive policy? And if so, how do emotions concretely manifest in Russian foreign policy? What social function do the emotions have? How should Western actors react to Russian disrespect claims? The analysis in the project was pursued along a longitudinal and cross-case investigation of ‘anger points’ and a qualitative content analysis (QCA) of the respective anger representations (anger markers) in official Russian speech throughout the post-Soviet era in 6 cases which were deemed status-relevant for Russia: NATO-enlargement, NATO intervention in Kosovo 1999, U.S. missile defense, Russo-Georgian war 2008, the Syria issue and the conflict in and over Ukraine. It was stipulated that anger can best be traced through language as this emotion expresses itself most consistently through verbal communication. Cross-temporal case-comparison and search for cumulative evidence was assumed to help in overcoming shortcomings of conventional interpretative methods and increase the possibility of generalization. Also, it advocated for a more sensitive treatment of the ‘anger agents’, which in the Russian case have been identified at the level of political (foreign-policy) decision-makers. The project has found substantial evidence that anger over perceived Western disrespect and status deprivation in the relationship indeed has an influence on Russian foreign policy. The project found that anger has succinctly turned from a temporary deviant phenomenon into a factor that more steadily and fundamentally shapes foreign policy strategy formulation and behavior. Regarding the relationship between emotions and interests, we see that emotions (a) shape, i.e. precede and form, attitudes and (b), when highly resonant, e.g. in the context of security-related issues, can serve as forceful instruments for the domestic consolidation of power. This project has conducted a systematic analysis of the status-anger nexus in the post-Soviet official discourse in six status-relevant fields of interaction with the West. It has developed a code book which can be applied for other contexts and projects that want to investigate into such discrete emotions as anger, its role in foreign policy as well as its link with status conflicts in world politics. The project’s findings support the idea that integrating the socio-emotional dimension more systematically is relevant to understanding the foreign policies of countries, actors and subjects of international relations.
Publications
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(2018) Russia’s Power Politics in Ukraine and Syria: Status-seeking between Identity, Opportunity and Costs. Europe-Asia Studies 70 (8) 1185–1212
Freire, Maria Raquel; Heller, Regina
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2014. Russia's quest for respect in the international conflict management in Kosovo. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 47 (3-4): 333–343
Heller, Regina
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2014. Status and emotions in Russian foreign policy. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 47 (3-4): 261-268
Forsberg, Tuomas, Regina Heller and Reinhard Wolf
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2016. Russland und der Frieden in Europa - normative Entwicklungspfade und aktuelle Außenpolitik. In: Frieden: Vom Wert der Koexistenz, hrsg. von Clemens Sedmak, 137-156. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft
Heller, Regina
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2016. Russlands Machtpolitik in Syrien – (k)eine Frage der Kosten. In: Friedensgutachten 2016, hrsg. von Margret Johannsen, Bruno Schoch, Max M. Mutschler, Corinna Hauswedell und Jochen Hippler, 232-245. Berlin: LIT
Heller, Regina
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2017. More rigor to emotions! A comparative, qualitative content analysis of anger in Russian foreign policy, in: Eric Sangar and Maéva Clement (eds): Researching emotions in IR: Methodological perspectives on the emotional turn, Palgrave Macmillan
Heller, Regina
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(2018). Defending Social Status–Why Russia’s Ukraine Policy is About More than Regional Leadership. Rising Powers Quarterly 3 (1) 137-159
Regina Heller
