The Main Signs and Reasons for the Small State Foreign Policy Behaviour

Abstract

This article aims at identifying the characteristics of the foreign policy behaviour of small states, in particular, the main features and reasons for their peculiar behaviour in the international arena. The author analyses the main approaches to the definition of small states and argues the scientific preference for the use of one of the varieties of an integrated approach. Based on the results of previous studies, he describes the main common features of the foreign policy behaviour of small states, but a reservation is made that the manifestation of these features in practice is situational and contextual. It is concluded that the reasons for the described signs of a peculiar foreign policy behaviour of small states is a combination of a regional security complex and its order, economic development and foreign policy identity of each particular small state, in which the type of regional security complex is crucial.