PIECES ON OUR CRAFT: Size Matters: Small States and International Studies

Abstract

In recent years, there has been growing recognition within international studies that big (normally synonymous with “power”) is not always best. In contrast to the traditional IR focus on great powers, a number of authors have highlighted the need to “take small states seriously” in international studies and challenged Kenneth Waltz’s claim that the “story of international relations is written in terms of the great powers.” In part, this shift in emphasis reflects the mounting interest in small states amongst policy-making communities themselves. This is evident, for instance, in current debates in the World Trade Organization (WTO) about the status of small island states and within the European Union (EU) about the impact of the small enlargement states on European governance, economy and society. The remarkable economic success of small countries such as the Irish Republic has also led to increased awareness of the lessons that can be learnt from smaller states. Not surprisingly, this move towards an appreciation of small states has been accompanied by growing interest in issues of state size. This is not least evident in discussions about how “smallness” might be defined. As Iver Neumann and Sieglinde Gstohl perceptively note, traditional International Relations (IR) theory has sidestepped this issue somewhat by effectively conceiving small states in terms of what they are not: they …