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Social media is becoming a key medium through which we communicate with each other: it is at the center of the very structures of our daily interactions. Yet this infiltration is not unique to interpersonal relations. Political leaders, governments, and states operate within this social media environment, wherein they continually address crises and institute damage control through platforms such as Twitter. A question arises here as to what the turn to Twitter means for conventional structures of power and different levels of communication. This article analyses the emotional dynamics of Twitter, illustrating how emotion is implicated in the power of this social media platform. I argue that Twitter can both represent emotions and provoke emotions, which can play an important role in the escalation or de-escalation of conflict. The emotional conditions Twitter facilitates are implicated in how shifts in temporality and functionality of communication have shaped political discourse so significantly.

In the past two decades, scholars have illustrated how important representation is to understanding the dynamics of world politics. However, there is a distinct absence in the literature surrounding how representations of one state by another influence foreign policymaking behaviour. This article fills a gap in knowledge by offering an empirical examination of the role that representation and recognition play. I contribute to these discussions through an examination of the representations evident within the Iran–US relationship. I argue that binary representations of Self and Other inform the identity narratives of each state and how they are recognised. Furthermore, these representations contribute to misrecognition, which creates a feeling of disrespect, exacerbating tensions between Iran and the US as they engage in nuclear negotiations.