Highlights
- Studying small states is important for answering big and important questions in international relations, such as ‘what is power?’ and ‘what is agency?’.
- Small state agency is best understood as graded and contingent and constituted in the meeting between national and collective role constructions.
- A relational perspective on power and agency is key for creating a more pluralist and nuanced understanding of both the challenges and opportunities of small states and international relations more generally.
Abstract
This essay illustrates the importance of small state studies for answering important questions in international relations, such as ‘what is power?’ and ‘what is agency?’. Understanding small state agency as graded and contingent, it argues that a relational perspective on power and agency grounded in the study of small states is key for creating a more pluralist and nuanced understanding of both the challenges and opportunities of individual states and the fabric of international relations. A relational perspective allows us to analyse concrete challenges and opportunities for small states navigating asymmetrical relationships with stronger actors inside and outside international institutions, and to explore the nature, dynamics, and impact of relations in international relations more generally.