The Triumph of Emotions

Fifteen years ago, Dominique Moïsi famously argued that the world was increasingly shaped by a ‘clash of emotions’ as the old politics of ideology faded. Asia was hopeful; the West was fearful; and much of the rest of the world felt humiliated. Moïsi warned that this was a dangerously unpredictable world, that authorities had a responsibility to keep tempers cool. In this bold new book, Moïsi reports that they have failed: we live in a world where emotions have triumphed.

One of the world’s most influential analysts of international affairs, Moïsi explains how and why the problems he identified in his path-breaking The Geopolitics of Emotion have deepened. More insidious emotions have been provoked by the rise of nationalism and populism, the retreat from globalisation, the acceleration of climate change, and the dark sides of information technology. Raw emotions such as anger and even hatred have triumphed both in international and domestic politics—evident not just in leaders’ extreme rhetoric but now in open war in Ukraine.

Against the backdrop of the US-China rivalry, a new Tripolar Order is emerging, featuring hope and resentment in the Global South, humiliation and anger in the Global East, and fear and resilience in the Global West.

The Triumph of Emotions is an illuminating and passionately argued book for our fraught times.