Small states, survival and strategy

The study of small states has implied, from its earliest days, a concern with their problems of survival. Prescriptions based on the Euro-Atlantic literature risk seeming West-centric in other eyes, and doing less to help precisely those with the most intractable problems. The classic case from the last decade is the way George W. Bush's US Administration relabelled terrorism, after 11-September 2001, as an existential threat that justified a permanent 'war' against its perpetrators and supporters, even at the cost of infringing certain laws and liberties. Military-strategic protection may be sought from the nearest powerful state; from a remote large power, inter alia to protect against the nearer ones; or by grouping with larger variety of partners as a 'balancing' measure. In East Timor and Kosovo, the UN even provided a temporary administration, offering time and support for true self-government to develop. The EU is admittedly unique in its combination of post-realist, post-Westphalian features.