Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EIS (Empathy and International Security)
Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-08-31
Empathy is traditionally lauded as an asset in politics and international relations. By helping people to understand the perspectives and experiences of others, it is seen to help reconcile differences, cultivate interpersonal connections, and contribute to a more diverse and inclusive dialogue. Empathy has been championed by political leaders who use it to create a vision of a better and more secure society. However, it has a darker side. As psychologist Paul Bloom has noted, empathy can be used to foster greater ingroup identities at the expense of out-groups. Rather than doing good, it can be used by populist leaders to connect to sections of society as part of exclusionary identity politics, or mobilise popular support for conflict. These different applications of empathy reveal its multifaceted nature, and speak to a tension in the concept and how it is defined: If empathy can cause harm as well as help, what does that mean for its role in initiatives to foster security? No research examines these tensions or the implications for creating better policy. Empathy and International Security (EIS) addresses this gap. It asks: How can a more nuanced understanding of empathy inform more human-centric approaches to security?
This research is important for society because it is through understanding how different people experience, perceive, and give meaning to the world, and the contexts in which they operate, that we are better able to cultivate connections and build relationships, navigate challenges and reconcile differences. At a time of heightened tensions, and growing marginalisation and polarisation in society, empathy can be a means with which to create a more inclusive, nuanced, and iterative dialogue between citizens, policy-makers, politicians and each other. However, a critical challenge with empathy is that it takes hard work and courage. Practising empathy can be confronting, and so finding ways to incorporate it into policy or security thinkings requires us to embrace the discomfort and ambiguity it presents in order to identify creative and innovative solutions to the problems we face.
The overall objectives of this project have been to reveal the multifaceted and political nature of empathy. To show how it has many diverse applications and implications in order to construct a more nuanced, rich, and comprehensive theoretical and practical understanding of the concept. This project has taken an expansive view of security, reflecting on leadership at times of crisis, in conflict situations, in the design of strategy and diplomacy in international affairs, and in reducing sources of insecurity for people who find themselves in vulnerable situations. Over the course of the research, the findings have revealed that empathy, and the capacity to express it, is integral to international relations, security, and society, yet it is dependent on a series of factors including personalities, systems, structures, politics, and context. Despite its capacity for positive, normative change in international relations, and a desire to see it more widely used, it is also used to manipulate, to achieve personal gain, or to seek support for initiatives that can cause harm. By exploring these different facets, the project has demonstrated some of the conceptual complexity associated with empathy and its subjectivity, whilst also identifying core steps and practices that can be used by decision-makers, politicians, civil society, leaders, and society as a whole, to harness its potential more effectively.
This research is important for society because it is through understanding how different people experience, perceive, and give meaning to the world, and the contexts in which they operate, that we are better able to cultivate connections and build relationships, navigate challenges and reconcile differences. At a time of heightened tensions, and growing marginalisation and polarisation in society, empathy can be a means with which to create a more inclusive, nuanced, and iterative dialogue between citizens, policy-makers, politicians and each other. However, a critical challenge with empathy is that it takes hard work and courage. Practising empathy can be confronting, and so finding ways to incorporate it into policy or security thinkings requires us to embrace the discomfort and ambiguity it presents in order to identify creative and innovative solutions to the problems we face.
The overall objectives of this project have been to reveal the multifaceted and political nature of empathy. To show how it has many diverse applications and implications in order to construct a more nuanced, rich, and comprehensive theoretical and practical understanding of the concept. This project has taken an expansive view of security, reflecting on leadership at times of crisis, in conflict situations, in the design of strategy and diplomacy in international affairs, and in reducing sources of insecurity for people who find themselves in vulnerable situations. Over the course of the research, the findings have revealed that empathy, and the capacity to express it, is integral to international relations, security, and society, yet it is dependent on a series of factors including personalities, systems, structures, politics, and context. Despite its capacity for positive, normative change in international relations, and a desire to see it more widely used, it is also used to manipulate, to achieve personal gain, or to seek support for initiatives that can cause harm. By exploring these different facets, the project has demonstrated some of the conceptual complexity associated with empathy and its subjectivity, whilst also identifying core steps and practices that can be used by decision-makers, politicians, civil society, leaders, and society as a whole, to harness its potential more effectively.
Over the course of the project I have combined research, writing, outreach and engagement. I have published two articles, one in the Journal of Strategic Studies (2022) on empathy's role in strategy, and one in Le Rubicon (2023) on its use in the strategic communications of Ukrainian President Zelensky. In addition, I have conducted research to develop and deepen the conceptual framework and theoretical understanding of empathy, which will feature in two forthcoming books. These include case studies from diplomacy, negotiations, conflict, and crises. My work has been presented at a number of international conferences and workshops, and in 2022 in collaboration with Dr Tobias Nanz, I hosted a workshop in Odense, Denmark on Empathy and Communications in Crises. In 2023. To use innovative means of engaging on the themes of my research, I worked with students at the University of Southern Denmark to host a film screening of Flugt (Flee) about refugees and have a dialogue about the role of empathy.
This work has been supplemented by a sustained effort to engage with a wide and diverse audience both within academia and beyond. I have participated on a number of podcasts, radio shows, and broadcasts to highlight the findings of my work. I also have invested in building relations and community across disciplines and fields.
This work has been supplemented by a sustained effort to engage with a wide and diverse audience both within academia and beyond. I have participated on a number of podcasts, radio shows, and broadcasts to highlight the findings of my work. I also have invested in building relations and community across disciplines and fields.
Through research and activities to address these, EIS had a number of objectives to contribute and advance the state of the art. It was intended to be interdisciplinary, reveal the multifaceted and political nature of empathy, and to demonstrate the concepts centrally to IR theory. It has done the following to realise these goals:
1. This project has advanced an interdisciplinary approach through collaborations with academics in literature, welfare, politics, and civil society organisations it has gone beyond the bounds of international relations or international security to have wider application and in turn benefit from insights and experience gained by working with colleagues in these fields.
2. It has looked to history, and examined the different ways that empathy has been used. Although two case studies were limited by the pandemic, other examples have been drawn on from diplomatic negotiations, terrorism, war, conflict, intelligence. Through research and interviews examples have been found that receive limited attention in the literature but which offer compelling cases to inform the framework and deepen our understanding of the concept. Working with different organisations and through outreach activities I have been able to engage a wide array of people in this work and demonstrated the breadth and relevance of empathy and security and how it can be used to pursue power, exploit divisions, or extend influence as part of security policy.
3. The emphasis of the project has been to highlight that empathy is multifaceted and not just a positive, normative concept but one with diverse applications and implications. This has been demonstrated through the outputs published and anticipated books, and they reveal a richer picture of the concept and engaged new audiences in discussing it.
4. Throughout the research it has emphasised the discursive power of empathy, how it can transform relations, build support and help people find connections with wider audiences. It has shown, especially in Le Rubicon, but also in the books, that it has political power and potential albeit with both positive and negative implications.
5. Through publications, outreach, podcasts, and engagement with people working across IR theory It has demonstrated that empathy is central to IR theory as part of complex dynamics alongside traditional tenets of interests, power, and politics. This is evident in the articles in the Journal of Strategic Studies and Le Rubicon, and it will be reiterated further in forthcoming publications and books.
1. This project has advanced an interdisciplinary approach through collaborations with academics in literature, welfare, politics, and civil society organisations it has gone beyond the bounds of international relations or international security to have wider application and in turn benefit from insights and experience gained by working with colleagues in these fields.
2. It has looked to history, and examined the different ways that empathy has been used. Although two case studies were limited by the pandemic, other examples have been drawn on from diplomatic negotiations, terrorism, war, conflict, intelligence. Through research and interviews examples have been found that receive limited attention in the literature but which offer compelling cases to inform the framework and deepen our understanding of the concept. Working with different organisations and through outreach activities I have been able to engage a wide array of people in this work and demonstrated the breadth and relevance of empathy and security and how it can be used to pursue power, exploit divisions, or extend influence as part of security policy.
3. The emphasis of the project has been to highlight that empathy is multifaceted and not just a positive, normative concept but one with diverse applications and implications. This has been demonstrated through the outputs published and anticipated books, and they reveal a richer picture of the concept and engaged new audiences in discussing it.
4. Throughout the research it has emphasised the discursive power of empathy, how it can transform relations, build support and help people find connections with wider audiences. It has shown, especially in Le Rubicon, but also in the books, that it has political power and potential albeit with both positive and negative implications.
5. Through publications, outreach, podcasts, and engagement with people working across IR theory It has demonstrated that empathy is central to IR theory as part of complex dynamics alongside traditional tenets of interests, power, and politics. This is evident in the articles in the Journal of Strategic Studies and Le Rubicon, and it will be reiterated further in forthcoming publications and books.