EU-Russia Relations: A Geopolitics of Emotions? The Stake of the Shared Neighbourhood

The study of emotions in international politics has received very few attention from the scholars of international relations in the last decades. However, as the current dispute over the case of Ukraine, and more specifically Crimea, brings to light, the study of emotions is equally important as the analysis of game of interests to the understanding of world politics. Emotions are indeed closely interlocked with the development of foreign relations and foreign policies. Emotions do not only shape actor’s perception of their position within the international system or their ability to influence international politics, they also contribute to define how main players relate to one another in order to address the challenges they face.Based on Dominic Moïsi’s assertion that emotions are as important as the study of objectives data in the design of contemporary world politics, this MA thesis examines the role and impact of emotions in the development of the relations between the European Union and Russia in the post-Cold War international order. It conducts a particular investigation on the impact of the 2004 enlargement and the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy, in its eastern dimension, in the development of the relations between both actors. Its goal is to highlight the existing interplay between, on one hand, the nature of their mutual cooperation framework and characteristics of their respective relations with post-Soviet countries, and on the other hand, the perceptions and misperceptions of the vision and images of power produced about the European Union and Russia.