Addressing the conceptual void of African small state foreign policy in orthodox theory

2020 ◽  
pp. 138-158
Author(s):  
Kabelo M. Mahupela
Author(s):  
Justinas Lingevičius

This paper discusses theoretical debates regarding small states and their foreign policy and also argues that research should include more analysis of small states’ identities and the dominant meanings related to being a small state. Using poststructuralistic theoretical perspective and discourse analysis, two empirical cases – Lithuania and New Zealand – are analysed with attention paid to the meanings of smallness and the ways these meanings are constructed. Empirical analysis follows with suggestions for how future research of small states could be improved.


Politologija ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-108
Author(s):  
Gabija Lukšaitė

This paper examines the specifics of foreign policy strategies used by Denmark as a small state in the Arctic region. Based upon a number of theoretical approaches in terms of analyzing small state foreign policy, this study is primarily focused on how small states manage to pursue their goals in an international environment typically dominated by large powers.


1983 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaughan A. Lewis

This study is a sequel to one done by this writer on the foreign policy of Jamaica from 1972 to 1977 (Lewis, 1981) and covers the remaining period during which the People's National Party (PNP), led by Prime Minister Michael Manley, presided over the government of the country.In elections held on October 30, 1980, the PNP government was decisively defeated by the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The latter had, in the previous elections of December 15, 1976, retained only 13 seats in Jamaica's parliament. When the Jamaica Labour Party administration took office, as the party had promised in its election manifesto, it reversed the central planks of the domestic and foreign policies of the PNP administration and reestablished a close relationship with the United States as the main element of its domestic and foreign policies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-466
Author(s):  
Rasmus Pedersen

The Danish decision to enter US-led coalitions in Afghanistan and Iraq significantly consolidated and strengthened the Atlantic dimension in Danish foreign policy in the period 2001–2009. The period has attracted considerable academic interest, but there seems to be a lack of consensus about how to interpret the Danish decision, which has been characterised as everything from an indication of adaptation, to continuation of the Danish acquiescence to great powers, to path-breaking change in Danish foreign policy to an expression of small state independence. Part of the confusion in the literature is due to the lack of clear conceptual awareness regarding the concepts in use. This article identifies three frames in the literature and contributes to our understanding of the question of change and continuity in small state foreign and security policy by identifying the analytical implications of adopting a clearer understanding of analytical concepts such as adaptation, determinism, activism and internationalism in the Scandinavian context in general and the Danish context more specifically.


Author(s):  
E. D. Salmygina ◽  

Small states are very weak in the political area. That is why there is a need for them to try to choose the various foreign policy strategies to defend themselves. Belarus is a small state that needs to survive in our rapidly developing and politically unstable world. Having emerged as a newly independent state as the result of the collapse of the USSR, Belarus faced a difficult choice in the decision where it was going to move further and on whom it could rely. In particular, in recent years, Belarus needs to make a subtle strategic calculation as to how to manage its relations with two important partners: Russia and China. This article considers the theory of small states’ foreign policy strategies in detail. It analyzes the choice of Belarus’s foreign policy strategies towards China and Russia. It shows that Belarus combines some characteristics from the classic small states’ foreign policy strategies, and it does not fully follow any of them.


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