Foreign Policy and Security Strategies of Microstates
Students Name: Dverii Polina Vadymivna
Qualification Level: magister
Speciality: International Relations
Institute: Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences
Mode of Study: full
Academic Year: 2020-2021 н.р.
Language of Defence: німецька
Abstract: Dverii P.V., Dorosh L.O. (supervisor). Foreign Policy and Security Strategies of Microstates. Master’s thesis. – Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, 2020. Extended abstract. The state-participants of international relations are divided into several specific types, according to their position in the hierarchy of states of the international system: superpowers, great powers, middle powers, small states and micro-states. According to this typology, micro-states are not considered to be capable of having significant influence on the international system and global events, thus, being often ignored as objects of a serious research. However, they are full-fledged actors of the international arena, and, therefore, are important for the study of international relations. Six micro-states – Brunei, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Palau, Seychelles, and Saint Kitts and Nevis – have been selected for analysis in order to study the foreign policy and security strategies of these countries. Study object is microstates as subjects of international relations. Scope of the research is the foreign policy and security strategies of micro-states. The goal of the research is to study the foreign policy and security strategies of micro-states as subjects of international relations. The place of microstates in the international system has been determined in the research. It has been found out that they are at the lowest level of the hierarchy of the international system due to the lack of sufficient resources to protect their sovereignty and inability to influence the international environment [1]. It has been found that there is still no commonly accepted approach to identifying micro-states [3]. Based on the most frequently used approaches, the main features of microstates have been identified: population less than 1.5 million people, inability to influence the international environment, weak positions in asymmetric relations, awareness of the insignificance of their role in the international arena. The examples of six countries – Brunei, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Palau, Seychelles and Saint Kitts and Nevis – reveal the peculiarities of the formation mechanisms of the microstates’ foreign policy and security strategies. It has been found that they are determined by the form of government and political regime. The thesis identifies and analyzes the main principles, priorities, and implementation directions of the micro-states’ foreign policy and security strategies. The foreign policies of developing countries (Palau, Seychelles, St. Kitts and Nevis) focus mainly on ensuring their domestic development; the ones of developed micro-states (Brunei, Liechtenstein, San Marino), on the other hand, address the matters of global issues. All micro-states emphasize the importance of their participation in international organizations. The security strategies of most micro-states are limited to local and regional issues or are absent at all. The analysis of micro-states’ key strategies and patterns of behavior in the field of foreign policy and national security showed their greater, comparing to the other countries, vulnerability to external pressures and confrontations. They are influenced by the activities of powerful international actors (Brunei) [4], depend on their nearest neighbors (Liechtenstein, San Marino) [5], or are stuck in clientelistic relations with the strong states (Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis) [7]. The Seychelles, however, are an example of a successful micro-state, which has managed to obtain an authoritative voice in world politics [2]. It is revealed that the security strategies of the micro-states acquire different character depending on the geopolitical position and level of resource potential. Strategic hedging is used by micro-states, which are forced to balance between the more powerful actors in the region. European micro-states adhere to the concept of neutrality. Economically and militarily weak micro-states use the alliance shelter strategy towards a strong ally in order to obtain assistance [6]. Keywords: micro-state, international system hierarchy, the status of a state, foreign policy, security strategy. References: 1. Коппель О. А. (2008). Міжнародні системи і глобальний розвиток: підручник (за ред. Л.В. Губерського, В.А. Манжоли). Видавничо-поліграфічний центр «Київський університет». 2. Bueger, C. & Wivel, A. (2018). How do small island states maximize influence? Creolediplomacy and the smart state foreign policy of the Seychelles. Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 14(2), 170-188. DOI: 10.1080/19480881.2018.1471122 3. Maas, M. (2009). The elusive definition of the small state. International Рolitics, 46(1), 65-83. DOI: 10.1057/ip.2008.37 4. Omar, A. M. (2018, November 30). Brunei Between Big Powers: Managing US-China Rivalry in Asia. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2018/12/brunei-between-big-powers-managing-us-china-rivalry-in-asia/ 5. Simpson, A. W. (2014) The security of the European micro-states. In C. Archer, A. J. K. Bailes, A. Wivel (Eds.), Small states and international security: Europe and beyond (pp. 167-183). Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781315798042-10 6. Vaicekauskaite, Z. M. (2017). Security Strategies of Small States in a Changing World. Journal on Baltic Security, № 3(2),7-15. https://doi.org/10.1515/jobs-2017-0006 7. Veenendaal, W. P. (2014). 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