The four types of state size and the foreign policy of small states

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-32
Author(s):  
Máté Szalai
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Small States ◽  
State Size

Serbia and Croatia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Ejdus
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Small States ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Defence Strategy ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
National Defence

During the cold war, the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia was a middle-sized power pursuing a non-aligned foreign policy and a defence strategy based on massive armed forces, obligatory conscription, and a doctrine of ‘Total National Defence’. The violent disintegration of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s resulted in the creation of several small states. Ever since, their defence policies and armed forces have been undergoing a thorough transformation. This chapter provides an analysis of the defence transformation of the two biggest post-Yugoslav states—Serbia and Croatia—since the end of the cold war. During the 1990s, defence transformation in both states was shaped by the undemocratic nature of their regimes and war. Ever since they started democratic transition in 2000, and in spite of their diverging foreign policies, both states have pivoted towards building modern, professional, interoperable, and democratically controlled armed forces capable of tackling both traditional and emerging threats.

scholarly journals Being a Small State: Discussion on the Role of Size

2019 ◽  
pp. 73-91
Author(s):  
Justinas Lingevičius
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Small States ◽  
Small State

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.

scholarly journals Small States and the Struggle for Power in the Arctic Region: A Case Study of Denmark

Politologija ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-108
Author(s):  
Gabija Lukšaitė
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small States ◽  
Small State ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
International Environment ◽  
Foreign Policy Strategies ◽  
The Arctic Region

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.

Size and Foreign Policy Behavior: A Test of Two Models

1973 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 556-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice A. East
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Small States ◽  
Nation States ◽  
International Behavior ◽  
Small Powers ◽  
Policy Behavior ◽  
Foreign Policy Behavior

The categorization of states according to size has long been a part of world politics. Rothstein notes, for example, that the formalization of the categories of great and small powers occurred as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Chaumont in 1817. Recently, the concept of size has received an increasing amount of attention as a factor affecting foreign policy. One manifestation of this is the renewed interest in die foreign policy behavior of small states. In his pre-theory of foreign policy, Rosenau includes size as one of three “genotypic” variables assumed to exert a major influence on foreign policy. In addition, empirical studies have shown size to be an important factor underlying variations in the international behavior of nation-states.

scholarly journals Foreign policy positioning issue of small States (on the example of the Republic of Belarus relations with the Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China)

2020 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
pp. 113-128
Author(s):  
E. D. Salmygina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Small States ◽  
Small State ◽  
Independent State ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Policy Strategies ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Foreign Policy Strategies

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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