A complete guide for how small states can be strikingly successful and influential--if they assess their situations and adapt their strategies.
Small states are crucial actors in world politics. Yet, they have been relegated to a second tier of International Relations scholarship. In A Small State's Guide to Influence in World Politics, Tom Long shows how small states can identify opportunities and shape effective strategies to achieve their foreign policy goals. To do so, Long puts small states' relationships at the center of his approach. Although small states are defined by their position as materially weaker actors vis-a-vis large states, Long argues that this condition does not condemn them to impotence or irrelevance. Drawing on typological theory, Long builds an explanation of when and how small states might achieve their goals. The book assesses a global range of cases-both successes and failures-and offers a set of tools for scholars and policymakers to understand how varying international conditions shape small states' opportunities for influence.
Author(s): Tom Long
Series: Bridging the Gap
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 240
City: New York
Cover
Advance Praise page
Series
Title
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
Who are you calling small?
Small states in history
Material views
Ideational views
Relational views
Organization and conclusions
2. Small States, Big World
Small states in International Relations theory
Setting the scene: Asymmetrical theory and international context
Great-.power politics
Institutionalization
Economic governance
Normative environment
Structures, relations, and small states today
3. Opportunities and Constraints: Conditions for Success
Small-.state characteristics and relationships
Internal factors
External factors
Asymmetrical international relationships
Typological theory and the conditions for relational influence
Bilateral asymmetrical relationships and international context
4. Playing Small Ball: Strategies for Success
Small states’ sources of power
Particular-.intrinsic
Derivative
Collective
Cases and strategies
Type 1 (red): Patience and perseverance
Type 2 (orange): Problem redefinition
Type 3 (yellow): Agenda setting for salience
Type 4 (green): Finding mutual benefits
Type 5 (blue): Extraversion
Type 6 (violet): Agenda setting and new alternatives
Types 7 (white) and 8 (grey): Maintaining the status quo
Applying the theory: Case selection and methods
Case selection and methods
5. Small-.State Security
Africa: Asymmetry and security diversification
Success: Djibouti finds new partners
Failure: Gabon deepens dependence
Americas: Bases and bargains
Success: El Salvador gains benefits and action space
Failure: Honduras’s declining benefits at a higher cost
Asia: Managing change in the Himalayas
Success: Bhutan benefits from alignment
Failure: Nepal—.Arms, embargos, and asymmetry
Europe: Autonomy at geopolitical crossroads
Success: Estonia between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Failure: Moldova between Russia and Europe
Conclusions
6. Small States in a Global Economy
Africa
Success: Rwandan aid and autonomy
Failure: Aid and policy dependency in Zambia
Americas
Success: Bolivia, Brazil, and gas
Failure: Paraguay, Brazil, and Itaipú
Asia
Success: Malaysia and the Belt and Road Initiative
Failure: Myanmar and the Belt and Road Initiative
Europe
Success: Portugal leans into the euro crisis
Failure: The eurozone’s Greek tragedy
Conclusions
7. Institutions, Law, and Norms
Case 1: Climate and environment
Case 2: Human rights
Case 3: Regional organizations
Case 4: Global public health
Conclusions
8. Conclusion
Comparing types and cases
Comparing issue areas
Policy applications
Findings and implications
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
