Book review : Overcoming smallness : challenges and opportunities for small states in global affairs

Abstract

How can small states transcend the dangers of the contemporary international system in order to remain influential and independent? Overcoming smallness, co-authored by Georgetown University in Qatar professors Rory Miller and Fahad Al-Marri, provides insights to this burning question. It begins with a Foreword by H.E. Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, wherein she emphasizes “that small states are not only numerous but also key players in our complex and ever-changing world” (p. 14). This is a sound prelude to a book that offers three main contributions: a thorough review of international relations (IR) theories; global examples of small state agency; and a comprehensive assessment of Qatar’s contemporary foreign policy. Chapter 1 functions as the literature review. The authors survey the contested quantitative, qualitative and self-definitional approaches used to delineate a “small” state. They make two theoretical points that guide their work. First, “small and geographically vulnerable does not have to mean permanently weak” (p. 29). Second, citing Tom Long, they argue that small state power is multifaceted and includes the intrinsic, derivative, and collective ways by which they gain leverage in their bilateral and institutional interactions (p. 32). [excerpt]