The Quiet Architects of Global Governance:
Small State Agency in an Era of Diffuse Authority
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5752/P.2317-773X.2025v13n2p216-235Palavras-chave:
Small states, globalization, sovereignty, strategic adaptation, international agencyResumo
This paper critically examines the multifaceted impact of globalization on small states by interrogating the conceptual foundations of sovereignty, agency, and security in an increasingly interdependent world order. Departing from traditional materialist paradigms, the study employs a constructivist and institutionalist framework to assess how small states, defined by limited strategic depth and asymmetric power relations, navigate structural vulnerabilities through adaptive strategies such as multilateralism, norm entrepreneurship, and niche diplomacy. By using conceptual-analytical methodology, the analysis explores how the erosion of conventional state boundaries, accelerated by digitalization and liberalized communication networks, redefines security imperatives and constrains national autonomy, particularly in states lacking institutional resilience. It concludes that in the globalized era, survival for small states hinges not on traditional power capabilities, but on their capacity to reconceptualize sovereignty, strategically engage international institutions, and innovate diplomatically.
Downloads
Referências
ACHARYA, Amitav; BUZAN, Barry . The Making of Global International Relations: Origins and Evolution of IR at its Centenary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
AGNEW, John. “Sovereignty Regimes: Territoriality and State Authority in Contemporary World Politics.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 95(2), 2005, pp. 437–461.
ALIBABALU, Sayyad Sadri, SADRI, Babak; NASEEM, Muhammad Yaseen; AHMADI, Azam. “A Conceptualization of the Middle Eastern Security Structure: Proxy Wars of All against All.” Agathos 11(1), 2020, pp. 425-438.
ALIBABALU, Sayyad Sadri. “Turkey’s security policy towards Northern Syria and Iraq amid regional chaos (2011–2019).” Bilig 102, 2022, pp. 147-170. https://doi.org/10.12995/bilig.10207.
ALIBABALU, Sayyad Sadri; SARKHANOV, Teynur. “Iran’s public diplomacy and religious soft power in Africa.” Politics and Religion Journal (Political science of religion) 2, 2023, p. 411-433. https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1702411a.
BAGIR, Muharrem. “Globalization’s Challenge to Nation-State Sovereignty and Conflicts in the Middle East.” Nous Academy Journal 2024, pp. 66–80, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13920057.
BALDACCHINO, Godfrey; WIVEL, Anders. “Small states: Concepts and theories”. In Godfrey Baldacchino and Anders Wivel (Eds.), Handbook on the politics of small states (pp. 3–20). Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020.
BALDACCHINO, Godfrey; WIVEL, Anders. “Small states: Concepts and theories”. In Godfrey Baldacchino and Anders Wivel (Eds.), Handbook on the politics of small states (3–20). Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020.
BALFOUR, Rosa; x ÜLGEN, Anders. “Geopolitics and Economic Statecraft in the European Union.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2024.
BARTELSON, Jens. A Genealogy of Sovereignty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
BRÄUTIGAM, Deborah; WOOLCOCK, Michael. “Small States in a Global Economy: The Role of Institutions in Managing Vulnerability and Opportunity in Small Developing Countries.” United Nations University WIDER, Discussion Paper No. 2001/37, 2001.
BRIGUGLIO, Lino. “A vulnerability and resilience framework for small states.” In Bynoe-Lewis, D. (Ed.), Building the resilience of small states: a revised framework (pp. 1-102). London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2014.
BRIGUGLIO, Lino; CORDINA, Gordon; FARRUGIA, Nadia; VELLA, Stephanie. “Economic Vulnerability and Resilience: Concepts and Measurements.” Oxford Development Studies 37(3), 2009, pp. 229–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600810903089893.
BROWNING, Christopher S. “Small, Smart and Salient? Rethinking Identity in the Small States Literature.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 19(4), 2006, pp. 669–684. https://doi.org/10.1080/09557570601003536.
BUZAN, Barry, WÆVER, Ole; WILDE, Jaap de. Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998.
BUZAN, Barry. People, States, and Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations. University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
BUZAN, Barry; HANSEN, Lene. The Evolution of International Security Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
CARR, Madeline. US Power and the Internet in International Relations: The Irony of the Information Age. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
COOPER, Andrew F.; SHAW, Timothy M. The Diplomacies of Small States: Between Vulnerability and Resilience. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
DEIBERT, Ronald. Parchment, printing, and hypermedia: Communication in world order transformation. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
FAZAL, Tanisha. State Death: The Politics and Geography of Conquest, Occupation, and Annexation. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2023.
FINNEMORE, Martha; SIKKINK, Kathryn. “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.” International Organization 52(4), 1998, pp. 887-917. https://doi.org/10.1162/002081898550789.
FOULON, Michiel; MEIBAUER, Gustav. “How Cyberspace Affects International Relations: The Promise of Structural Modifiers.” Contemporary Security Policy 45(3), 2024, pp. 426–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/13523260.2024.2365062.
FUKUYAMA, Francis. The end of history and the last man. Free Press, 1992.
GADDIS, John Levis. The Cold War: A New History. London: Penguin Books, 2005.
GEORGE, Alexander L.; BENNETT, Andrew. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2004.
HELD, David; McGrew, Anthony G.; GOLDBLATT, David; PERRATON, Jonathan. Global transformations: Politics, economics and culture. Stanford University Press, 1999.
HERZOG, Stephen. “Revisiting the Estonian Cyber Attacks: Digital Threats and Multinational Responses.” Journal of Strategic Security 4(2), 2011, pp. 49-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.4.2.3.
INGEBRITSEN, Christine. Scandinavia in World Politics. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.
KAPSOKOLI, Eleni. “Being Small but Smart in the International Arena.” Book Review of Litsas, N. Spyridon. Smart Instead of Small in International Relations Theory. Switzerland: Springer. Central European Journal of International and Security Studies 18(2), 2024, https://doi.org/10.51870/VRXZ3653.
KEOHANE, Robert O. After hegemony: Cooperation and discord in the world political economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
KEOHANE, Robert O.; NYE, Joseph S. Power and interdependence: World politics in transition. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977.
MAASS, Matthias. The elusive definition of the small state. International Politics, vol. 46(1), 2009, pp. 65–83.
NEUMANN, Iver B., Carvalho, Benjamin de. “Introduction: Small states and status.” In: Benjamin de Carvalho and Iver B. Neumann (eds.), Small States and Status Seeking Norway’s Quest for Higher Standing (pp. 1-21), Abingdon: Routledge, 2015.
NYE, Joseph. “Cyber Power”. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, 2010.
NYE, Joseph. Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: PublicAffairs, 2005.
PANKE, Diana. Small States in the European Union: Coping with Structural Disadvantages. Routledge, 2010.
POSAZHENNIKOVA, Anna. “Small States in Multilateral Negotiations: Actorness Increase Strategies”. 2023, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4673850.
SADRI ALIBABALU, Sayyad. “The Relationship between Economy and Foreign Policy: The Case of Iran (2011-2016)”. InTraders International Trade Academic Journal 1(1), 2018, pp. 66-76.
SEYIDBAYLI, Toghrul. “U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan and Realignment of Eurasian Rival Powers.” Journal of Strategic Security 18(2), 2025, pp. 215-239. https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.18.2.2499.
STĂNESCU, Marina. A Small State’s Security Strategy in a Changing World – Republic of Moldova Case Study. Scientific Bulletin 29(2), 2024, pp. 307 – 316. https://doi.org/10.2478/bsaft-2024-0031.
TAYLOR, Frank F. “Whose world order? Cuba vs. Pax Americana in the Persian Gulf.” Socialism and Democracy 10(1), 1996, pp. 21–45, https://doi.org/10.1080/08854309608428175.
THORHALLSSON, Baldur. Small states and shelter theory: Iceland’s external affairs. Routledge, 2018.
THORHALLSSON, Baldur; STEINSSON, Sverrir. “Small state foreign policy”. In C. Constantinou, P. Kerr and P. Sharp (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of diplomacy (pp. 307–318). 2016.
WALKER, Rob. Inside/Outside: International Relations as Political Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
WEBER, Max. Politics as a vocation. In Gerth, H. H. and Mills, C. M. (Eds. & Trans.), From Max Weber: Essays in sociology (pp. 77–128). Oxford: Oxford University Press, (Original work published 1919), 1946.
WENDT, Alexander. “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization 46(2), 1992, pp. 391–425.
WIJAYA, Trissia; LIAO, Jessica, C; BAIK, Ewon; KATADA, Saori N. “Pivotal Power of Small States to Save the International Liberal Economic Order: The Case from East Asia.” The Pacific Review 38(2), 2024, pp. 285–316. https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2024.2369700.
YANIKKAYA, Halit; ALTUN, Abdullah. “The Impact of Global Value Chain Participation on Sectoral Growth and Productivity.” Sustainability 12(12), 2020, pp. 4848. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124848.
Downloads
Publicado
Como Citar
Edição
Seção
Licença
Copyright (c) 2026 Estudos Internacionais: revista de relações internacionais da PUC Minas
Este trabalho está licenciado sob uma licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Autores que publicam nesta revista concordam com os seguintes termos:
1. Autores mantém os direitos autorais e concedem à revista o direito de primeira publicação, com o trabalho simultaneamente licenciado sob a Licença Creative Commons Attribution que permite o compartilhamento do trabalho com reconhecimento da autoria e publicação inicial nesta revista.
2.Autores têm autorização para assumir contratos adicionais separadamente, para distribuição não-exclusiva da versão do trabalho publicada nesta revista (ex.: publicar em repositório institucional ou como capítulo de livro), com reconhecimento de autoria e publicação inicial nesta revista.
3.Autores têm permissão e são estimulados a publicar e distribuir seu trabalho online (ex.: em repositórios institucionais ou na sua página pessoal) a qualquer ponto antes ou durante o processo editorial, já que isso pode gerar alterações produtivas, bem como aumentar o impacto e a citação do trabalho publicado (Veja O Efeito do Acesso Livre).
Português
English
