Public attribution as a regulator of emotion

Debates about attribution in security and strategic studies often focus on the technical feasibility of the process at the expense of its political utility. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the emotional effects of attribution. The general argument of this paper is that public attribution can constitute a mechanism for converting effects produced by hostile activities into favorable circumstances by regulating emotions of domestic populations. Allocating responsibility to one’s own identity is likely to elicit guilt, shame or pride, blaming the specific “other” is likely to elicit anger, and blaming the impersonal circumstances is likely to elicit sadness. Anger and pride can be harnessed to support escalatory foreign policies. Guilt, shame and sadness are likely to be used for de-escalatory policies of restraint.