This article is based on the keynote address I delivered in June 2019 at the Central and Eastern European International Studies Association (CEEISA) conference in Belgrade. Drawing on existentialist thought, I first discuss the distinction between anxiety and fear and the relevance of this distinction for international relations (IR) theory. Then, building on the Heideggerian notion of mood and its recent applications to IR by Erik Ringmar (2017, 2018), I argue that anxiety impacts international relations as a public mood—‘a collective way of being attuned to the world’. Connecting existentialist thought on anxiety with contemporary IR and political science research on securitisation and populism, I discuss how, in periods and contexts where we are collectively attuned to the world in anxiety, the resonance of securitisation and the appeal of nativist and populist doctrines that offer ideological and moral certainty are enhanced.

本文基于我于 2019 年 6 月在贝​​尔格莱德的中东欧国际研究协会 (CEEISA) 会议上发表的主题演讲。借鉴存在主义思想，我首先讨论了焦虑和恐惧之间的区别以及这种区别与国际关系 (IR) 理论的相关性。然后，基于海德格尔的情绪概念及其最近 Erik Ringmar（2017 年，2018 年）在 IR 中的应用，我认为焦虑会影响国际关系作为一种公共情绪——“一种适应世界的集体方式”。将关于焦虑的存在主义思想与当代关于证券化和民粹主义的 IR 和政治科学研究联系起来，我讨论了在我们集体在焦虑中与世界协调的时期和背景下，