Small States in International Politics
| Author | Gunnar Skagestad |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083677400900116 |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Small
States
in
International
Politics:
A
Polar-Political
Perspective
GUNNAR
SKAGESTAD
The
study
of
small
states
may
be
perceived,
alternatively,
as
a
distinctly
separate
discipline
within
the
broader
subject
area
of
international
politics,
or,
as
one
particular
approach
to
the
study
of
international
politics
in
general.
So
may
the
study
of
the
’new
territories’.
In
this
chapter,
the
two
perspectives
combine.
Presenting
the
’new
territories
studies’
as
a
novel
approach
to
the
traditional
small
states
studies,
the
chapter
discusses
the
practical/political
possibilities
and
limitations
inherent
in
the
small
states’
situation
and
is
also
an
attempt
to
contribute
toward
an
improved
theoretical
basis for
the
study
of small-state
behavior.
The
empirical
material
is
mainly
the
developments
in
inter-state
relations
which
have
taken
place
in
the
Antarctic
(the
’Antarctic
Model’);
the Arctic
situation
is
also
presented
for
com-
parative
purposes.
The
author
arrives
at
certain
guarded
generalizations,
where
the
need
for
inter-
national
cooperation
emerges
as
a
major
contingent
factor
regarding
the
validity
of
descriptive
and
normative
hypothesizing
on
small
state
behavior.
I.
A
PROJECT-ORIENTED
POINT
OF
DEPARTURE
Although
the
study
of
small
states
attracts
the
attention
of
scholars
to
an
increasing
degree,
and
also
the
fact
that
a
not
incon-
siderable
literature
is
now
available
in
this
field,’
it
none
the
less
still
appears
to
some
extent
and
in
several
respects
as
‘vir,~in
territory’.
The
Norwegian
Institute
of
International
Affairs
addressed
itself
to
this
theme
at
a
Nordic
conference
in
January
19712 -
an
occasion
which
served
to
uncover
some
of
those
basic
theoretical
weaknesses
to
which
the
research
in
some
way
has
been
liable.
Among
these
weak-
nesses,
it
should
be
emphasized,
in
par-
ticular,
that
there
has
been
considerable
uncertainty
as
to
what
kind
of
criteria -
e.g.
resource-oriented
v.
behavioral -
should
be
made
the
basis
for
a
fruitful
definition
of
the
concept
of
’small
state’
(and
of
its
opposite,
the
concept
’big
state’).
More
generally,
there
seems
to
be
a
certain
need
to
assume
new
perspectives
in
the
study
of
small
states.
The
object
of
the
present
paper
is
to
contribute
towards
meeting
this
need,
and
to
exhibit
certain
aspects
of
the
re-
search
which
is
being
carried
out
under
the
’new
territories
project’
of
the
Fridtjof
Nansen
Foundation,
and
of
some
of
the
result
material
which
is
available.3
This
project
has
been
concerned
with
certain
problem-situations
which
are
also
of
sig-
nificance
in
the
study
of
small
states
in
international
politics.
Its
aim
is,
inter
alia,
to
explore
international
interaction
in
regions
where
extraordinary
conditions
are
present
(the
so-called
’new
territories’;
cf.
below),
where
one
is
dealing
with
lim-
ited
numbers
of
actors,
and
where,
in
particular,
problems
of
cooperation
occupy
a
central
place.
These
inquiries
are
rele-
vant
because
some
of
the
actors
concerned
are
small
states.
This
point
of
departure
will
involve
a
particular
interest
in
the
concept
’new
territories’4 -
a
common
term
applied
to
several
types
of
region
the
geographic
characteristics
of
which,
together
with
certain
dynamic
factors,
make
their
study
fruitful
from
a
common
angle.
Such
’new
territories’
have
certain
common
features
which
distinguish
them
from
existing
and
recognized
national
territories.
A
’new
territory’
is
defined
ask
a
geographical
area
which
(a)
has
not
previously
been
subject
to
the
inter-
To continue reading
Request your trial