The Foreign Policy of Smaller Gulf States: Size, Power, and Regime Stability in the Middle East (UCLA Center for Middle
Máté Szalai, "The Foreign Policy of Smaller Gulf States: Size, Power, and Regime Stability in the Middle East (UCLA Center for Middle "
English | ISBN: 0367745208 | 2021 | 238 pages | EPUB | 911 KB
English | ISBN: 0367745208 | 2021 | 238 pages | EPUB | 911 KB
This book studies how smaller Gulf states managed to increase their influence in the Middle East, oftentimes capitalising on their smallness as a foreign policy tool. By establishing a novel theoretical framework (the complex model of size), this study identifies specific ways in which material and perceptual smallness affect power, identity, regime stability, and leverage in international politics.
The small states of the Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) managed to build up considerable influence in regional politics over the last decade, although their size is still considered an essential, irresolvable weakness, which makes them secondary actors to great powers such as Saudi Arabia or Iran. Breaking down explicit and implicit biases towards largeness, the book examines specific case studies related to foreign and security policy behaviour, including the Gulf wars, the Arab Uprisings, the Gulf rift, and the Abraham Accords.
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