A Small State's Guide to Influence in World Politics

A complete guide for how small states can be strikingly successful and influential--if they assess their situations and adapt their strategies.

Small states are crucial actors in world politics. Yet, they have been relegated to a second tier of International Relations scholarship. In A Small State's Guide to Influence in World Politics, Tom Long shows how small states can identify opportunities and shape effective strategies to achieve their foreign policy goals. To do so, Long puts small states' relationships at the center of his approach. Although small states are defined by their position as materially weaker actors vis-a-vis large states, Long argues that this condition does not condemn them to impotence or irrelevance. Drawing on typological theory, Long builds an explanation of when and how small states might achieve their goals. The book assesses a global range of cases-both successes and failures-and offers a set of tools for scholars and policymakers to understand how varying international conditions shape small states' opportunities for influence.

Tom Long is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics & International Studies at the University of Warwick. Tom's research focuses on the dynamics of asymmetry, small states, and the international relations of the Americas. He is the author of Latin America Confronts the United States:
Asymmetry and Influence. His work also appears in leading journals including International Security, World Politics, International Affairs, Perspectives on Politics, and International Studies Review. Since completing his PhD at American University in 2013, Tom's research has been supported by about
$400,000 of grants and fellowships from bodies including the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, British Academy, and British Council. He was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica in Chile. Before joining Warwick, Tom taught at the University of Reading, American
University, and the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, where he remains an affiliated professor in international studies.