Acting small in a large state's world: Russia and the Baltic states

The interest in small states ebbs and flows as important international affairs include small states. Russia's actions and policies vis-à-vis Ukraine, and the resultant intensified apprehension among Russia's smaller neighbours, aim the proverbial microscope at the size and power discrepancies between states. Russia, by most metrics, is a large state and the Baltic states, by those same metrics, are small states. Small-state scholars expect large and small states to act differently. However, the case of Russia and the Baltic states indicates that large and small states do not, in fact, act all that different. This being the case, this article calls into question many of the assumptions made by small-state scholars about the difference between large- and small-state action and argues for changes within small-state studies as a subdiscipline of the larger international relations discipline.     

Dwarfs in international negotiations: how small states make their voices heard

Students of international relations interested in cooperation through international regimes and organizations very often devote their attention to the role of a few big states rather than the numerous small ones. Small states tend to possess fewer administrative and financial resources back home as well as smaller and less well-equipped delegations at the international negotiation table than big states. This can easily translate into difficulties in preparing positions for all items on the negotiation agenda and in developing negotiation strategies in great detail, which might inhibit small states from successfully influencing negotiation outcomes. Yet, since international negotiation often rest on a one-state, one-vote principle and since small states can adjust priorities and redirect their limited capacities, there is a window of opportunity for small states to turn into important international actors and achieve significant outcomes in international affairs. In order to systematically shed light on the role of small states in international negotiations, this article outlines the conceptual framework to answer the following question: How, and under which conditions, can small states successfully punch above their weight in international negotiations?     

Theories on the information society and development: recent theoretical contributions and their relevance for the developing world

Abstract

The rise and effects of information and communcation technologies (ICTs) form the starting point of a few interesting theoretical accounts on the information economy and society. Even some more critical authors proceed in their argumentation from economic and social change in relation to major changes in the area of ICTs. This recent literature is often confusing, as the role of ICTs is perceived as all pervasive. As such, authors do not always distinguish between evolutions in specific sectors, at the economic level or at the level of social institutions and structures. This article has a twofold goal. First, it provides a systematised discussion of recent theoretical contributions on the information society. Second, it analyses these contributions in the light of its accounts of, relevance to, the developing world. It starts from the assumption that all too often no specific attention is paid to the developing world or that – in the case of more policy-orientated accounts – the theory on the information society is seen to be universal in character.     

Mediation by small states: Some lessons from the CSCE

Most writing on international mediation has tended to focus on either efforts by representatives of powerful states or of international organisations such as the United Nations. This study suggests we might benefit from looking at the mediatory role of small states in a relatively little studied but crucial forum. The writer draws of his personal experiences and the existing literature to examine the case of a few key states in the Madrid Review Conference of the CSCE. These states are suggested to have been primordial to the success of this conference, against all the odds given the Afghanistan and Polish crises of the early 1980s. The paper also discusses the extant literature on small states and mediation to make a plea for a more empirical approach to this area of conflict resolution.     

Studying small states in international security affairs: a quantitative analysis

Todays’ international security architecture composed of international security treaties and international security norms has been established and formalized by negotiations. Owing to the great importance of international security negotiations for international security practices, this paper sheds light on negotiation activities. A study of 100 different international security negotiations shows that states vary considerably with respect to their negotiation activity. Some countries voice positions very often, while others remain completely silent. This is puzzling, as active negotiation participation is an expression of state sovereignty and a means to influence the shape of the international security architecture. The article distinguishes between capacity and incentives as driving forces of state activity in international security negotiations. The analysis reveals that, next to political and financial capacities, states that place high priority on military matters are more active, while smaller and poorer states are more likely to shelter under the security umbrella of larger counterparts.     

'Makeweight in the balance': Italian diplomatic documents, 1893-95

I Documenti Diplomatici Italiani, seconda seria, 1870-1895, vol.xxvi (Dec. 1893-March 1895), edited by Ministero degli Affari Esteri. Rome: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1999. lxxvii + 751 pp. Price not obtainable.     

Beyond soft balancing: small states and coalition-building in the ICC and climate negotiations

The role of small states has been largely neglected in research on the process and outcome of multilateral negotiations. Even though these states may be active in the agenda-setting processes or display a specific engagement in certain thematic aspects of negotiations, in the end game the outcome of negotiations has been perceived to be dependent on the bargaining between major powers. However, small states also have strategies at their disposal to compensate for these weaknesses. Two principal ones come to mind, prioritization or niche diplomacy, and coalition-building to join forces with like-minded states in order to draw on their resources, expertise and manpower. In the article, we compare two cases of small state coalitions in multilateral negotiations, namely the Like Minded (LM) group in the negotiations that led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in United Nations climate negotiations. While the two coalitions resort to similar strategies, they have not been comparably successful. We will show that the ability to translate discursive power into measurable effects on outcomes ultimately depends on the institutional setting of the negotiations and the nature of the issue that coalitions are tackling.     

Democratic states,aid agencies and world society: What's the name of the game?

This article discusses some aspects of the changing structure and dynamics of the global humanitarian system with particular reference to non-governmental agencies and their increasingly diverse organisational philosophies and modes of intervention. The article has two goals. First, an analytical framework is proposed, based on game-theoretical concepts, which allows us broadly to classify different forms of non-governmental humanitarian action and their relations with states. Second, crucial changes regarding constraints and orientations which have reshaped the interactions between humanitarians and states in global society are explored – changes which cannot be understood without a closer look both at the interpretive cultures of specific aid agencies in different countries and at the operational arenas in which these agencies find themselves today.     

Full circle: New principals and old consequences in the modern diplomatic system

Originally written for a conference marking the 350th anniversary of the treaties of Westphalia, the article argues that, although the surrounding circumstances are very different, there are some interesting parallels to be drawn between the problems of the early seventeenth century and those of the end of the twentieth. The principal shared characteristic is that power was then and is now on the move between one type of institution and another. This resulted and results in the development of unusually complex relationships between new institutions unfamiliar with each other and a continuing need for them to deal with decaying but surviving entities from the past. In such circumstances both the structures for forming and managing policy and the machinery for conducting relations underwent and are undergoing marked and stressful change, as the old strives to adjust and the successors attempt to construct new and appropriate means of representation. Where the Westphalian period, under the pressure of state formation began the construction of ministries with sole responsibility for foreign affairs, the present period is seeing a corresponding dismantling of the autonomous foreign ministry under the pressure of globalization. In diplomatic services a similar correspondence may be seen: state services decline, but private entities, whether commercial or civil, are beginning to create means of representing themselves both to each other and to national governments: old problems, but new principals.     

Discourse and reality in international information society policy: the dominant scenario and its application in the developing world

Abstract

Since the early 1990s the concept of the information society has taken centre stage on the political agendas of several national governments in the North and South, as well as regional and international institutions, donor organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This article first sets out to analyse and describe both the content of, the evolution in, this policy discourse. It attempts to assess the validity of this discourse in light of the current changes at the global level and in the light of the problems associated with the practical implementation of policy in a developmental context. By so doing, it questions the basic – and overly simplistic – assumptions of the dominant scenario.     

Why monarchy persists in small states: the cases of Tonga,Bhutan and Liechtenstein

Monarchical rule is said to have become anachronistic in a modern age of legal rational orders and representative institutions. And yet, despite successive waves of democratization having usurped their authority across much of the globe, a select few monarchs remain defiant, especially in small states. This stubborn persistence raises questions about the application of Huntington’s “King’s Dilemma” in which modern monarchs are apparently trapped in a historical cycle that will ultimately strip them of meaningful power. Drawing on in-depth historical research in three small states that have sought to combine democratic and monarchical rule – Tonga, Bhutan, and Liechtenstein – we argue that, contra Huntington, monarchs in small states are neither doomed to disappear nor are they likely to be overwhelmed by the dilemma posed by modernist development. The lesson is that the size of political units is a critical variable too often overlooked in existing studies.     

Europe under occupation: the European diplomatic community of practice in the Jerusalem area

ABSTRACT

This article shows how the existence of a community of European practitioners in the Jerusalem area gives substance to the European stance on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The often-stated European Union (EU) support for a two-state solution could appear meaningless in the absence of peace negotiations. However, European diplomats (i.e. diplomats of EU member states and EU officials) in the East Jerusalem–Ramallah area are committed to specific practices of political resistance to Israeli occupation and recognition of Palestinian institutions. These practices have led not only to a specific political geography of diplomacy, but also to a community of practice, composed of European diplomats and based on their daily experience of resisting occupation and bestowing recognition. It is this group of officials who represent and actively “do” Europe’s position and under occupation.     

Full circle: New principals and old consequences in the modern diplomatic system

Originally written for a conference marking the 350th anniversary of the treaties of Westphalia, the article argues that, although the surrounding circumstances are very different, there are some interesting parallels to be drawn between the problems of the early seventeenth century and those of the end of the twentieth. The principal shared characteristic is that power was then and is now on the move between one type of institution and another. This resulted and results in the development of unusually complex relationships between new institutions unfamiliar with each other and a continuing need for them to deal with decaying but surviving entities from the past. In such circumstances both the structures for forming and managing policy and the machinery for conducting relations underwent and are undergoing marked and stressful change, as the old strives to adjust and the successors attempt to construct new and appropriate means of representation. Where the Westphalian period, under the pressure of state formation began the construction of ministries with sole responsibility for foreign affairs, the present period is seeing a corresponding dismantling of the autonomous foreign ministry under the pressure of globalization. In diplomatic services a similar correspondence may be seen: state services decline, but private entities, whether commercial or civil, are beginning to create means of representing themselves both to each other and to national governments: old problems, but new principals.     

Explaining the behaviour of small states: an analysis of Jordan's nuclear energy policya

Conventional analyses claim that small states bandwagon with leading international powers. The dominant view is that small states' vulnerabilities and limited power hinder their ability to pursue policy goals. This study critiques this position by investigating why and how Jordan continues to pursue a nuclear energy programme despite objections from the United States—its principal ally. By using theories of small states, this study analyses discursive practices in Jordanian policymaking. This approach is used to describe Jordan's nuclear energy policy and posit a logic of the effects that energy insecurity has on the government's perception of Jordan as a ‘small state’. I use this to create hypotheses concerning the conditions under which small states may not simply bandwagon with key international allies, but may have more freedom to pursue their goals than traditional analyses predict. Explanations that assume small states always have limited freedom to pursue policy goals without the backing of key allies are not supported by the evidence considered here.