2026/07/21 by Irena Kalhousová, Eugene Finkel, Evgeny Finkel
Psychology · #Migration, Health and Trauma #Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research #Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration
paper · doi:10.1177/00108367261454318
Trauma has become an increasingly prominent concept in international relations, yet we still know relatively little about the mechanisms through which traumatic experiences shape foreign policy. This introduction to the Special Issue advances a trauma-informed approach to Foreign Policy Analysis by conceptualizing trauma as a multilevel phenomenon that influences state behaviour through three interconnected mechanisms: shaping identities and threat perceptions, becoming institutionalized in political and societal structures, and being strategically mobilized in discourse. Building on constructivist scholarship while engaging with insights from political psychology and foreign policy analysis, we distinguish between individual and group trauma and demonstrate how each affects foreign policy through different pathways. We argue that trauma should be understood not merely as a legacy of past violence but as an active political resource that influences strategic choices, national identities, and international interactions. The introduction also highlights the Special Issue’s broader conceptual, methodological, and empirical contributions through diverse case studies spanning Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia, including Israel, Ukraine, South Korea, Russia, and post-communist Europe. Collectively, the contributions demonstrate that trauma can generate both conflict and restraint, that its effects are contingent on political interpretation and institutionalization, and that understanding trauma is essential for explaining contemporary foreign policy behaviour.