Anxiety is one of the most fascinating aspects of the human mind and should be fully integrated in the realm of IR theory. However, it has only been theorized in the realm of Ontological security is the only subfield that has explored the issue of anxiety yet it is a framework that uses anxiety in relation to the Self. Combining anxiety with status, this paper proposes a theory that anxiety about status can be a crucial factor in the decision for a state to go to war. The theory consists of two steps. A crucial event can trigger state anxiety, defined as a hard unknowability about the future. In response the anxious state will initiate conflict in order to regain that perceived lost status. Four hypotheses are tested anxiety about status, rationalist explanations for war, ideological factors and structural reasons. The theoretical proposition is tested using the Iraq War. A detailed qualitative analysis shows that the impact of the September 11th attacks posed a threat to American status on the Bush administration and in an exaggerated attempt to regain the standing of global hegemony the war in Iraq was launched.
Constantinos Kourtellas (Tue,) studied this question.