SMALL STATE STUDIES
Introduction
Máté Szalai
16.09.2015.
Corvinus University of Budapest
1. Why should we study small states?
2. How have small states been studied?
3. How are we going to study small states?
SMALL STATES HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED BY
IR
1. According to „common sense”, actors having only limited resources are
powerless in International Relations
2. Studying international relations has been a privilege of great states - research
bias
HOW DO WE CHOOSE THE ACTORS WE
WANT TO ANALYZE?
Problem
Who?
Relevant Actors
How?
Interests and behavior
DOMINANT PRESUMPTIONS OF IR
 How can we measure the relative power of actors?
 Actors actually have a given power
 Power can be measured
 The power of the actors can be compared
 How do powerful actors shape international politics?
 International politics are being shaped
 We can distingiush between powerful and other types of actors
WHAT ARE THE MAIN INDICATORS OF POWER?
"The nature and significance of the „facts” are determined
to a substantial degree by the (…) purposes of those who
select them (...). It is the purposes that guide the selection
of data, that give them relevance and meaning."
1. SO WHY SHOULD WE STUDY SMALL
STATES?
1. International relations are not being shaped exclusively by „powerful” actor.
2. The majority of states are small – if we refuse to deal with them, we actually
refuse to deal with a huge part of reality
3. The power of great states is being limited by international law, norms and
identity
4. Globalization and technical development creates huge possibilities for small
states
5. We are actually in a small state
6. Studying small states provides as a good opportunity to basically question
everything we know about international relations
2. HOW HAVE SMALL STATES BEEN
STUDIED?
1.
2.
3.
•Before 1945
Total neglect
•1945-1990
Peak and decline
•1990-
Revival
1950s: first publications
Systematic weakness
Diplomatic skills, geopolitics
1960s-1975: Climax
Systematic weakness
Economic and political dependence
1975-1990: Standstill
The notion of the small state does not provide a useful analyticial framework
THE REBORN OF SMALL STATE STUDIES
 1990s and 2000s
 Why?
 The dissolution of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, the USSR, etc.
 Globalization
 Theoretical advancement in IR
 New starting point: smallness does not necessarily mean weakness
STARTING POINTS AND ANALYTICAL
ASPECTS
Capabilities
Institutions
Small States
Relations
3. HOW ARE WE GOING TO STUDY SMALL
STATES?
I. Introduction to Small State Studies
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introduction to the course
Constructing Power and Security in the International System
Defining Small States
The Determinants of Small State Foreign Policy
II. Theory of Small State Foreign Policy
5. (Neo)realist tradition and its critiques
6. Neoliberal tradition
7. Alternative theories: Marxism, Virtual Enlargement, Norm
Entrepreneurship
8. Alternative theories: constructivism, learning
III. Case Studies from all around the world
10. Small States in the European Union
11. Small States of the Middle East and Asia
12. Microstates
13-14.: Small States in Africa, Latin America and the Pacific
REQUIREMENTS
1. Active participation in the class
2. Holding a presentation about a specific small state /
submit a paper of 10 pages
3. Oral exam
THANKYOU FORYOUR ATTENTION