Small State Diplomacy

Abstract

Small state diplomacy is typically defined in the context of and sometimes opposition to great power diplomacy. Until the end of the Cold War, small states were typically viewed as rule-takers, not rule-makers, and as security consumers, not security producers, in both the academic literature and in diplomatic practice. Since the end of the Cold War, this has changed. Today many studies of small state foreign policy and diplomacy analyze how and under which conditions small states succeed in influencing international affairs and contributing to the maintenance and development of international society. Like great powers, small states seek diplomatic goals reflecting the direct interests of the state such as the maintenance of territorial integrity, advancing prosperity, and protecting citizens abroad in combination with goals aimed as shaping the international environment, e.g., creating peaceful and rule-based international orders and protecting the global commons. However, small states have by definition more limited means than great and middle powers to pursue their diplomatic goals. They have smaller populations leaving them with a smaller tax base for financing diplomats, embassies, and the armed forces. Small states can rarely pursue coercive strategies but must rely on negotiated outcomes. Small domestic markets and the inability to defend themselves against both conventional military threats and threats to societal resilience make small states dependent upon bi- and multilateral agreements. At the same time, they have few resources to influence those agreements. Three characteristics of small state diplomacy reflect how small states seek to meet the challenges following from this predicament. First, small state diplomacy tends to rely heavily on regional and global institutions. International institutions help level the playing field by increasing transparency, creating common rules of behavior for all member states, and giving voice for opportunities. Second, small states tend to focus their diplomatic efforts in narrow diplomatic agendas. They seek to influence selected niches of special importance to the state rather than affecting overall structures and power balances. Finally, small states compensate for their lack of material capabilities by pursuing ideational strategies such as status seeking aimed at increasing their international standing in general or with selected great powers, and norm entrepreneurship aimed at promoting norms of importance to the small state.