Emotion Norms and International Securitization in Foreign Policy Analysis: The Official Russian Narratives on the Ukrainian-Russian War

Abstract

Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) literature overlooks the role of emotion norms and narratives towards international audiences in the securitization process. This article addresses these two under-explored aspects of the securitization framework in FPA. First, it investigates the role of the international audience, a crucial yet largely under-theorized component in securitizing moves. Second, it analyzes the emotion norms intertwined with speech acts that construct the Russian Federation's position towards international audiences by leveraging various emotions. In doing so, this research deconstructs the speeches of Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), Vasily Nebenzya, on the Ukraine-Russia war, targeting international audiences, particularly at the UN. It also explores how securitizing moves are linked with emotion norms to frame the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Russophobia in Nebenzya's narratives at the UN in 2022, before and after the Battle of Kyiv.