The field of International Relations (IB) has recently seen the emergence of a variety of different approaches to understanding the multiple ways in which emotions can be studied in and through discourse. This forum takes stock and explores this connection through two interrelated questions: Why study emotions through discourse? How can we study emotions through discourse? In relation to the first question, we argue that textual and verbal expressions offer us a promising way to make emotions empirically accessible to researchers. In relation to the second question, we argue that it is important to develop specific criteria for studying emotions through speech acts. We propose three criteria that the study of emotion discourse must meet, revolving around theory (what is an emotion?), expression (how are emotions communicated?) and effects (what do emotions do?). In order to promote engagement and dialogue around these questions, the participants in this forum propose a number of approaches to the study of emotion discourse in global politics. The idea is to explore the ways in which discourse evokes, reveals and engages emotions, and how these effects can contribute to larger questions in IR.