Professor Hall earned his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2008 and has held postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton and Harvard, as well as visiting scholar appointments at the Free University of Berlin, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and the University of Tokyo. Prior to joining the University of Oxford, Professor Hall held the position of Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Toronto (2010-2013). Professor Hall has published widely on the topics of Chinese foreign policy, the international relations of East Asia, and the various ways emotion and affective dynamics intersect with the practice of international politics.
Previous Posts
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto (2010-2013)
Postdoctoral Fellow, China and the World Program, Princeton University (2009-2010)
Postdoctoral Fellow, China and the World Program, Harvard University (2008-2009)
Research
Theorising the role of emotions and affective dynamics in international politics.
The international relations of East Asia, with a specific focus on the foreign policy of China.
Teaching
Undergraduate Tutorial Provision
214 International Relations
212 International Relations in the Era of Two World Wars
213 International Relations in the Era of the Cold War
297 Special Subject in Politics: International Security and Conflict
Graduate Teaching
International Relations Core (MPhil IR)
International Relations of East Asia
Publications
Books
- Emotional Diplomacy: Official Emotion on the International Stage, Cornell University Press, 2015. (Co-Winner of the 2016 Best Book Award, Diplomatic Studies Section of the International Studies Association)
Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications
- Between power and powerlessness: Families and politicised captivity, (co-authored with Phuong Anh Nguyen), European Journal of International Security, early view. 2026.
- Beijing’s Global Opposition Campaign, (co-authored with Hannah Bailey), Survival, 68(1), 109–126. 2026.
- The ties that bind: on affective ties, power, nationalism, and competition over the global distribution of feeling, (co-authored with Patrick James), International Theory, 17(2):175-207. 2025.
- Non-decision decisions in the Huawei 5G dilemma: Policy in Japan, the UK, and Germany, (co-authored with Alanna Krolikowski), Japanese Journal of Political Science, 24(2):171-189. 2023.
- Making Sense of China’s Belt and Road Initiative: A Review Essay, (co-authored with Alanna Krolikowski), International Studies Review, 24(3). 2022.
- Dispute Inflation, European Journal of International Relations, 27(4):1136-1161. 2021.
- The Politics of Emotion in International Relations: Who gets to feel what, whose feelings matter, and the ‘history problem’ in Sino-Japanese relations (co-authored with Karl Gustafsson), International Studies Quarterly, 65(4):973-984. 2021.
- More Significance than Value: Explaining Developments in the Sino-Japanese Contest Over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, Texas National Security Review, 2(4):10-37. 2019.
- Rethinking Affective Experience and Popular Emotion: World War I and the Construction of Group Emotion in International Relations, (co-authored with Andrew Ross), Political Psychology, 40(6):1357-1372. 2019.
- Three Approaches to Emotion and Affect in the Aftermath of the Zhuhai Incident, International Studies Review, 19(3):487-491. 2017.
- One Thing Leads to Another: Making Sense of East Asia’s Repeated Tensions, (co-authored with Ja Ian Chong), Asian Security, 13(1): 20-40. 2017.
- On Provocation: Outrage, International Relations, and the Franco-Prussian War, Security Studies, 26(1): 1-29. 2017.
- Affective Politics After 9/11, (co-authored with Andrew Ross), International Organization, 69(4): 847-879.
- The Lessons of WWI for East Asia Today: Missing the Trees for the Forest, (co-authored with Ja Ian Chong), International Security, 39(1): 7-43.
- Sympathetic States: Explaining the Russian and Chinese Responses to September 11, Political Science Quarterly, Fall 2012, 369-400.
- The Personal Touch: Leaders’ Impressions and Sincerity Judgments, (co-authored with Keren Yarhi-Milo), International Studies Quarterly, 3(56), 560-573.
- We Will Not Swallow This Bitter Fruit: Theorizing a Diplomacy of Anger, Security Studies, 20(4): 521-555.
- An Unclear Attraction: A Critical Examination of Soft Power as an Analytical Category, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, 2010 3(2):189-211.
In Chinese:
- 反复性紧张局势的后果研究, [Researching the Consequences of Repeated Tensions], (co-authored with Ja Ian Chong), 世界经济与政治 [World Economics and Politics, Beijing China], 2014(9): 50-74.
- 情感转向:情感的类型及其国际关系影响, [The Affective Turn: Varieties of Affect and Their Influence on International Relations], (co-authored with Andrew Ross), 外交评论 [Foreign Affairs Review, Beijing China], 2011, 4: 40-56.
Book Chapters
- Power and Emotion in International Relations, in Simon Koschut, and Andrew A. G. Ross (eds), Concepts, in Simon Koschut, and Andrew A. G. Ross (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Emotions in International Relations, Oxford Handbooks. 2025.
- “An extremely obnoxious and illegal case” – three approaches to affect, emotion, and discourse in the aftermath of the Zhuhai incident, in Simon Koschut (ed), The Power of Emotion in World Politics, Routledge. 2020.
Reviews
- China’s Rising Foreign Ministry: Practices and Representations of Assertive Diplomacy By Dylan Loh, East Asian Studies, 25(3): 396-398. 2025
- Bureaucracies at War: The Institutional Origins of Miscalculation by Tyler Jost, H-Diplo | Robert Jervis ISSF Roundtable, 17(16). 2025.
- Overreach: How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise. By Susan L. Shirk, The China Journal, 91:94-95. 2024.
- The Return of Resentment: The Rise and Decline and Rise Again of a Political Emotion by Robert A. Schneider, Political Science Quarterly, 139(3):487–489. 2024.
- Rumbles of Thunder: Power Shifts and the Danger of Sino-American War. By Steve Chan, H-Diplo | Robert Jervis ISSF Roundtable, 15(10). 23 2023.
- Manjari Chatterjee Miller, Why Nations Rise: Narratives and the Path to Great Power. H-Diplo | ISSF Roundtable, 14(1), 9 September 2022.
- Angela Poh, Sanctions with Chinese Characteristics: Rhetoric in China’s Diplomacy. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 15 December 2021
- The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order, Bridging the Gap. By Rush Doshi. International Affairs, 11 November 2021
- The Costs of Conversation: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime. By Oriana Skylar Mastro. H-Diplo. 21 January 2021.
- Diplomacy: Communication and the Origins of the International Order. By Robert F. Trager. H-Diplo. 18 May 2020.
- National Security Through a Cockeyed Lens: How Cognitive Bias Impacts U.S. Foreign Policy. By Steve A. Yetiv. Perspectives on Politics. 2016, 14(1): 291-292.
- Back to the Future Trenches? Review: Richard N. Rosencrance and Steven E. Miller. The Next Great War? The Roots of World War I and the Risk of U.S.-China Conflict. International Studies Review. 17(4): 716-718. 2015.
- Review: Joshua Kurlantzick. Charm Offensive: How China’s Soft Power Is Transforming the World. Journal of East Asian Politics, 2010, 10(3): 509-511.
Other
- China’s Three Personality Problem with Professor Todd Hall, The Ballpark podcast, 2026.
- "Let's Talk About How We Talk About China," St Antony's International Review, 2022, 17(1), 6-11.
- “How Things Could Have Gone Wrong – and Still Can -in the Taiwan Strait,” The Diplomat, 11 August 2022.
- “Taiwan: Beijing reacts to Pelosi’s visit with live-fire exercises prompting fears of escalation,” The Conversation, 4 August 2022.
- ‘I'll tell you something about China’: Thoughts on the Specialist Study of the International Relations of the People’s Republic of China, St Antony's International Review, 2020, 16(1): 15-21 (special section commentary).
- What do the ‘wolf warrior’ diplomats want? The Spectator's Chinese Whispers Podcast, 3 August 2020 (podcast).
- The U.S. has dialed up the rhetoric on Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, The Washington Post, Monkey Cage, 24 July 2020 (web publication).
- Why the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands Are Like a Toothpaste Tube, War on the Rocks, 4 September 2019 (web publication).
- Can a State Have an Emotion? MunPlanet, 27 May 2016 (web publication).
- Podcast: Emotional Diplomacy: Official Emotion on the International Stage, University of Oxford Podcasts, 12 April 2016.
- China, Soft Power, and the Politics of Attraction, The China Policy Institute Blog, 3 March 2016 (web publication).
- When States Act Emotionally: Professor Todd Hall Answers Questions on His New Book, OxPol: The Oxford University Politics Blog, 5 November 2015 (web publication).
- The Page 99 Test: Todd H. Hall's "Emotional Diplomacy", The Page 99 Test, 7 October 2015 (web publication).
- History Lessons : German-Israeli Reconciliation and Its Lessons for Sino-Japanese Relations, Border-Crossing : A Diplomat Magazine Academic Production, April 2015: 20-22.
- Herrhausen Lecture “Emotions in the EU” on 20 January 2015 at Freie Universität Berlin: Interview with Todd Hall, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford, Alferd Herrhausen Society, 20 January 2015 (web publication).
- Does World War I Echo in East Asia’s Growing Tensions? (co-authored with Ja Ian Chong of the National University of Singapore), IPI Global Observatory, 30 October 2014 (web publication).
