Small, smart and salient? : rethinking identity in the small states literature /
Christopher S Browning
- 2006
There has been a tendency in international relations literature to equate small states with a lack of power, smallness being viewed as a handicap to state power and even to state survival. This article argues that an alternative perspective can give a much more positive view of the role and importance of small states. After a critical review of mainstream literature, the case of Finland is considered to show that, at least in a European context, focussing on size may be missing the point, the emphasis now being on the smartness or innovativeness of states.