Small States and Regional Economic Integrations in the Multi-Polar World: Regional Differences in the Levels of Integration and Patterns of Small States&apos; Vulnerability

Petar Kurecic, null

doi:10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.8.3.0317

ScienceOpen: research and publishing network

For Publishers

For Researchers

Blog
About

Search
Advanced search

396

views

recommends

If you have found this article useful and you think it is important that researchers across the world have access, please consider donating, to ensure that this valuable collection remains Open Access.

The World Review of Political Economy is published by Pluto Journals, an Open Access publisher. This means that everyone has free and unlimited access to the full-text of all articles from our international collection of social science journals. Furthermore Pluto Journals authors don’t pay article processing charges (APCs).

scite_

World Review of Political Economy

Volume 8, Issue 3

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Small States and Regional Economic Integrations in the Multi-Polar World: Regional Differences in the Levels of Integration and Patterns of Small States' Vulnerability

Published

research-article

Author(s): Petar Kurecic

Publication date (Print): Fall 2017

Journal: World Review of Political Economy

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: small states, multi-polar world, regional economic integrations, the European Union

Bookmark

Abstract

The contemporary world is a world of multi-polarity, signifying that US attempts to achieve hegemony have failed and there are no signs that this is likely to change in the near future. What about the position of small states, which by most of the widely accepted criteria comprise at between half and two thirds of all the world's states? Small states, because of their constraints, such as the size of population and/or economy are often considered more vulnerable to external pressures than mid-size or especially large states. What strategies should then small states pursue to assure their survival and increase their economic development and political influence? The responses of small states to multi-polarity in different regions of the world are different. In Europe, economic integration along with certain forms of political integration has been going on for more than six decades. In other parts of the world, in most cases, the integration has not developed beyond the level of free-trade area. It is the intention of this article to study the differences in small states' relation towards regional economic integrations in various regions of the world. The thesis that deeper economic integration contains the influence of large states (albeit only outside the integration itself) is then tested through comparative analysis of regional economic integrations' effects on small states in the various regions of the world.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): worlrevipoliecon

Title: World Review of Political Economy

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 2042891X

ISSN (Electronic): 20428928

Publication date (Print): Fall 2017

Volume: 8

Issue: 3

Pages: 317-348

Article

Publisher ID: worlrevipoliecon.8.3.0317

DOI: 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.8.3.0317

SO-VID: bd38f5b0-fab7-4fd9-bef2-0a28fc76e315

License:

All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

References

Anckar, D. 2010. “Small Is Democratic, But Who Is Small?” Arts and Social Sciences Journal , no. 2: 1–10.
Bailes, A. J. K. 2009. “Does a Small State Need a Strategy?” Occasional Paper 2–2009, Centre for Small State Studies Publication Series, University of Iceland, Reykjavik.
Balassa, B. 1961. The Theory of Economic Integration . Homewood, IL: Irwin Publishing.
Berthélemy, J. C., and L. Söderling. 2001. “The Role of Capital Accumulation, Adjustment and Structural Change for Economic Take-Off: Empirical Evidence from African Growth Episodes.” World Development 29 (2): 323–43.
Bourne, C. 2003. “Small States in the Context of Global Change.” Paper presented at the Fourth Annual Conference of Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, Cave Hill, Barbados, January 15–17.
Braveboy-Wagner, J. 2010. “Opportunities and Limitations of the Exercise of Foreign Policy Power by a Very Small State: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 23 (3): 407–25.
Buzan, B., and O. Waever. 2003. Regions and Powers. The Structure of International Security . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cheng, J. Y. S. 2006. “Latin America in China's Contemporary Foreign Policy.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 36 (4): 500–28.
Cooper, A. F., and B. Momani. 2011. “Qatar and Expanded Contours of Small State Diplomacy.” International Spectator 46 (3): 113–28.
Cui, G. 2012. “US Role in the Leadership of Economic Integration in East Asia.” Canadian Social Science 8 (4): 85–91.
Desai, R. 2013. Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire. The Future of World Capitalism . London: Pluto Press.
Desai, R. 2015. “Geopolitical Economy: The Discipline of Multipolarity.” Valdai Papers , no. 24: 1–12.
Dodds, K., and V. Ingimundarson. 2012. “Territorial Nationalism and Arctic Geopolitics: Iceland as an Arctic Coastal State.” The Polar Journal 2 (1): 21–37.
Dumbaugh, K., and M. P. Sullivan. 2005. “China's Growing Interest in Latin America.” CRS Report for Congress RS22119, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, April 20.
Dumienski, Z. 2014. “Microstates as Modern Protected States: Towards a New Definition of Micro-Statehood.” Occasional Paper, Centre for Small States Studies, Institute of International Affairs, Reykjavik.
Erikson, D., and J. Chen. 2007. “China, Taiwan, and the Battle for Latin America.” Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 31 (2): 69–89.
Gomboş, C., and D. C. Mateescu. 2012. “Moldova's Political Self and the Energy Conundrum in the Context of the European Neighbourhood Policy.” Central European Journal of International and Security Studies 6 (1): 46–74.
Hanggi, H., and P. Regnier. 2000. The Small State and the Triad: The Case of Switzerland's Foreign Policy towards East Asia. Study in NRF Policy. Bern: National Foreign Policy Program.
Hey, J. A. K. 2003. “Introducing Small State Foreign Policy.” in Small States in World Politics: Explaining Foreign Policy Behavior , edited by J. A. K. Hey, 1–11. London: Lynne Rienner.
Hirst, P., G. Thompson, and S. Bromley. 2009. Globalization in Question . London: Polity.
Krickovic, A. 2014. “Imperial Nostalgia or Prudent Geopolitics? Russia's Efforts to Reintegrate the Post-Soviet Space in Geopolitical Perspective.” Post-Soviet Affairs 30 (6): 503–28.
Kurecic, P. 2011. “The Key Aspects of Neoconservative Influence on the U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy during the First G. W. Bush Administration.” The Romanian Journal of Society and Politics 11 (1): 93–122.
Kurecic, P., G. Kozina, and F. Kokotovic. 2017. “Revisiting the Definition of Small State through the Use of Relational and Quantitative Criteria.” in 19th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development Book of Proceedings , edited by G. Kozina, L. Juznik Rotar, and D. Tomic, 129–42. Melbourne: Varazdin Development and Entrepreneurship Agency.
Kutys, P. 2009. “Small States Inside the EU: Strategies for Pursuing Their National Interests.” Tiltai 47 (4): 1–11.
Lane, D. 2016. “The International Context: Russia, Ukraine and the Drift to East-West Confrontation.” International Critical Thought 6 (4): 623–44.
Lehne, S. 2012. “The Big Three in EU Foreign Policy.” The Carnegie Papers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://carnegieendowment.org/files/eu_big_three1.pdf.
LeoGrande, W. M. 2000. Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977–1992 . Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
Lewis, V. 2002. “Caribbean States: Functioning in the International Arena in the 21st Century.” in Caribbean Survival and the Global Challenge , edited by R. Ramsaran, 31–48. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Rundle Publishers.
Li, M. 2011. “Rising from Within: China's Search for a Multilateral World and Its Implications for Sino-US Relations.” Global Governance 17 (3): 331–51.
Lum, T., and B. Vaughn. 2007. “The Southwest Pacific: US Interests and China's Growing Influence.” CRS Report for Congress RL34086, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, July 6.
McElroy, J., and W. Bai. 2008. “The Political Economy of China's Incursion into the Caribbean and Pacific.” Island Studies Journal 3 (2): 225–46.
Mehdiyeva, N. 2011. Power Game in the Caucasus . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Montalbano, G. 2015. “Geopolitical Economy and Competing Capitalist Blocs in the EU Post-Crisis Financial Regulation: Two Cases from the Reform of the Banking Sector.” World Review of Political Economy 6 (4): 498–521.
Neumann, I. B., and S. Gstöhl. 2004. “Lilliputians in Gulliver's World? Small States in International Relations.” Working Paper 1–2004, Centre for Small State Studies, Institute of International Affairs, Reykjavik.
Poirine, B. 1995. Two Essays on Aid and Remittances. Pacific Studies Monograph 19 . Sydney: University of New South Wales.
Ponížilová, M. 2013. “The Regional Policy and Power Capabilities of Jordan as a Small State.” Central European Journal of International and Security Studies 7 (1): 1–22.
Rana, K. S. 2007. “Diplomacy of Small States.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Diplomacy of Small States, La Valletta, Malta, February 8–9.
Rublovskis, R., M. Šešelgyte, and R. Kaljurand. 2013. Defence and Security for the Small: Perspective from the Baltic States . Reykjavik: Centre for Small State Studies, Institute of International Affairs.
Serfati, C. 2016. “EU Integration as Uneven and Combined Development.” Research in Political Economy 30 (B): 255–94.
Shlapentokh, D. 2012. The Role of Small States in the Post-Cold War Era: The Case of Belarus . Carlisle: Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College.
Socor, V. 2013. “Armenia Trades European Union Association for Russian Protection.” Eurasia Daily Monitor 11 (10): 160.
Stegen, K. S., and J. Kusznir. 2015. “Outcomes and Strategies in the ‘New Great Game’: China and the Caspian States Emerge as Winners.” Journal of Eurasian Studies 6 (2): 91–106.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 2008. SIPRI Yearbook 2008 . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stringer, K. 2013. Sovereign Liechtenstein: The Soft Power Projection of a Very Small State . Reykjavik: Centre for Small State Studies, Institute of International Affairs.
Throup, D. 1995. “The Colonial Legacy.” in Conflict in Africa , edited by O. Furley, 237–73. London: I. B. Tauris.
Toje, A. 2010. The Tragedy of Small Power Politics: The European Union under Multipolarity. Security Policy Library 4–2010, The Norwegian Atlantic Committee, Oslo.
van der Pijl, K. 2014. The Discipline of Western Supremacy: Modes of Foreign Relations and Political Economy, Volume III . London: Pluto Press.
van der Pijl, K., O. Holman, and O. Raviv. 2011. “The Resurgence of German Capital in Europe: EU Integration and the Restructuring of Atlantic Networks of Interlocking Directorates after 1991.” Review of International Political Economy 18 (3): 384–408.
Wallerstein, I. 2010. “North-East Asia in the Multipolar World System.” Asian Perspective 34 (4): 191–205.
Wesley-Smith, T. 2007. China in Oceania: New Forces in Pacific Politics . Honolulu: East-West Centre.
Wivel, A. 2005. “The Security Challenge of Small EU Member States: Interests, Identity and the Development of the EU as a Security Actor.” Journal of Common Market Studies 43 (2): 393–412.
Wivell, B. 2015. “The Case for ASEAN Military Integration.” International Policy Digest, October 17. Accessed February 29, 2016. http://intpolicydigest.org/2015/10/17/the-case-for-asean-military-integration/.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Anckar, D. 2010. “Small Is Democratic, But Who Is Small?” Arts and Social Sciences Journal , no. 2: 1–10.

[2] Bailes, A. J. K. 2009. “Does a Small State Need a Strategy?” Occasional Paper 2–2009, Centre for Small State Studies Publication Series, University of Iceland, Reykjavik.

[3] Balassa, B. 1961. The Theory of Economic Integration . Homewood, IL: Irwin Publishing.

[4] Berthélemy, J. C., and L. Söderling. 2001. “The Role of Capital Accumulation, Adjustment and Structural Change for Economic Take-Off: Empirical Evidence from African Growth Episodes.” World Development 29 (2): 323–43.

[5] Bourne, C. 2003. “Small States in the Context of Global Change.” Paper presented at the Fourth Annual Conference of Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, Cave Hill, Barbados, January 15–17.

[6] Braveboy-Wagner, J. 2010. “Opportunities and Limitations of the Exercise of Foreign Policy Power by a Very Small State: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 23 (3): 407–25.

[7] Buzan, B., and O. Waever. 2003. Regions and Powers. The Structure of International Security . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[8] Cheng, J. Y. S. 2006. “Latin America in China's Contemporary Foreign Policy.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 36 (4): 500–28.

[9] Cooper, A. F., and B. Momani. 2011. “Qatar and Expanded Contours of Small State Diplomacy.” International Spectator 46 (3): 113–28.

[10] Cui, G. 2012. “US Role in the Leadership of Economic Integration in East Asia.” Canadian Social Science 8 (4): 85–91.

[11] Desai, R. 2013. Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire. The Future of World Capitalism . London: Pluto Press.

[12] Desai, R. 2015. “Geopolitical Economy: The Discipline of Multipolarity.” Valdai Papers , no. 24: 1–12.

[13] Dodds, K., and V. Ingimundarson. 2012. “Territorial Nationalism and Arctic Geopolitics: Iceland as an Arctic Coastal State.” The Polar Journal 2 (1): 21–37.

[14] Dumbaugh, K., and M. P. Sullivan. 2005. “China's Growing Interest in Latin America.” CRS Report for Congress RS22119, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, April 20.

[15] Dumienski, Z. 2014. “Microstates as Modern Protected States: Towards a New Definition of Micro-Statehood.” Occasional Paper, Centre for Small States Studies, Institute of International Affairs, Reykjavik.

[16] Erikson, D., and J. Chen. 2007. “China, Taiwan, and the Battle for Latin America.” Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 31 (2): 69–89.

[17] Gomboş, C., and D. C. Mateescu. 2012. “Moldova's Political Self and the Energy Conundrum in the Context of the European Neighbourhood Policy.” Central European Journal of International and Security Studies 6 (1): 46–74.

[18] Hanggi, H., and P. Regnier. 2000. The Small State and the Triad: The Case of Switzerland's Foreign Policy towards East Asia. Study in NRF Policy. Bern: National Foreign Policy Program.

[19] Hey, J. A. K. 2003. “Introducing Small State Foreign Policy.” in Small States in World Politics: Explaining Foreign Policy Behavior , edited by J. A. K. Hey, 1–11. London: Lynne Rienner.

[20] Hirst, P., G. Thompson, and S. Bromley. 2009. Globalization in Question . London: Polity.

[21] Krickovic, A. 2014. “Imperial Nostalgia or Prudent Geopolitics? Russia's Efforts to Reintegrate the Post-Soviet Space in Geopolitical Perspective.” Post-Soviet Affairs 30 (6): 503–28.

[22] Kurecic, P. 2011. “The Key Aspects of Neoconservative Influence on the U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy during the First G. W. Bush Administration.” The Romanian Journal of Society and Politics 11 (1): 93–122.

[23] Kurecic, P., G. Kozina, and F. Kokotovic. 2017. “Revisiting the Definition of Small State through the Use of Relational and Quantitative Criteria.” in 19th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social Development Book of Proceedings , edited by G. Kozina, L. Juznik Rotar, and D. Tomic, 129–42. Melbourne: Varazdin Development and Entrepreneurship Agency.

[24] Kutys, P. 2009. “Small States Inside the EU: Strategies for Pursuing Their National Interests.” Tiltai 47 (4): 1–11.

[25] Lane, D. 2016. “The International Context: Russia, Ukraine and the Drift to East-West Confrontation.” International Critical Thought 6 (4): 623–44.

[26] Lehne, S. 2012. “The Big Three in EU Foreign Policy.” The Carnegie Papers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://carnegieendowment.org/files/eu_big_three1.pdf.

[27] LeoGrande, W. M. 2000. Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977–1992 . Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

[28] Lewis, V. 2002. “Caribbean States: Functioning in the International Arena in the 21st Century.” in Caribbean Survival and the Global Challenge , edited by R. Ramsaran, 31–48. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Rundle Publishers.

[29] Li, M. 2011. “Rising from Within: China's Search for a Multilateral World and Its Implications for Sino-US Relations.” Global Governance 17 (3): 331–51.

[30] Lum, T., and B. Vaughn. 2007. “The Southwest Pacific: US Interests and China's Growing Influence.” CRS Report for Congress RL34086, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, July 6.

[31] McElroy, J., and W. Bai. 2008. “The Political Economy of China's Incursion into the Caribbean and Pacific.” Island Studies Journal 3 (2): 225–46.

[32] Mehdiyeva, N. 2011. Power Game in the Caucasus . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

[33] Montalbano, G. 2015. “Geopolitical Economy and Competing Capitalist Blocs in the EU Post-Crisis Financial Regulation: Two Cases from the Reform of the Banking Sector.” World Review of Political Economy 6 (4): 498–521.

[34] Neumann, I. B., and S. Gstöhl. 2004. “Lilliputians in Gulliver's World? Small States in International Relations.” Working Paper 1–2004, Centre for Small State Studies, Institute of International Affairs, Reykjavik.

[35] Poirine, B. 1995. Two Essays on Aid and Remittances. Pacific Studies Monograph 19 . Sydney: University of New South Wales.

[36] Ponížilová, M. 2013. “The Regional Policy and Power Capabilities of Jordan as a Small State.” Central European Journal of International and Security Studies 7 (1): 1–22.

[37] Rana, K. S. 2007. “Diplomacy of Small States.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Diplomacy of Small States, La Valletta, Malta, February 8–9.

[38] Rublovskis, R., M. Šešelgyte, and R. Kaljurand. 2013. Defence and Security for the Small: Perspective from the Baltic States . Reykjavik: Centre for Small State Studies, Institute of International Affairs.

[39] Serfati, C. 2016. “EU Integration as Uneven and Combined Development.” Research in Political Economy 30 (B): 255–94.

[40] Shlapentokh, D. 2012. The Role of Small States in the Post-Cold War Era: The Case of Belarus . Carlisle: Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College.

[41] Socor, V. 2013. “Armenia Trades European Union Association for Russian Protection.” Eurasia Daily Monitor 11 (10): 160.

[42] Stegen, K. S., and J. Kusznir. 2015. “Outcomes and Strategies in the ‘New Great Game’: China and the Caspian States Emerge as Winners.” Journal of Eurasian Studies 6 (2): 91–106.

[43] Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 2008. SIPRI Yearbook 2008 . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[44] Stringer, K. 2013. Sovereign Liechtenstein: The Soft Power Projection of a Very Small State . Reykjavik: Centre for Small State Studies, Institute of International Affairs.

[45] Throup, D. 1995. “The Colonial Legacy.” in Conflict in Africa , edited by O. Furley, 237–73. London: I. B. Tauris.

[46] Toje, A. 2010. The Tragedy of Small Power Politics: The European Union under Multipolarity. Security Policy Library 4–2010, The Norwegian Atlantic Committee, Oslo.

[47] van der Pijl, K. 2014. The Discipline of Western Supremacy: Modes of Foreign Relations and Political Economy, Volume III . London: Pluto Press.

[48] van der Pijl, K., O. Holman, and O. Raviv. 2011. “The Resurgence of German Capital in Europe: EU Integration and the Restructuring of Atlantic Networks of Interlocking Directorates after 1991.” Review of International Political Economy 18 (3): 384–408.

[49] Wallerstein, I. 2010. “North-East Asia in the Multipolar World System.” Asian Perspective 34 (4): 191–205.

[50] Wesley-Smith, T. 2007. China in Oceania: New Forces in Pacific Politics . Honolulu: East-West Centre.

[51] Wivel, A. 2005. “The Security Challenge of Small EU Member States: Interests, Identity and the Development of the EU as a Security Actor.” Journal of Common Market Studies 43 (2): 393–412.

[52] Wivell, B. 2015. “The Case for ASEAN Military Integration.” International Policy Digest, October 17. Accessed February 29, 2016. http://intpolicydigest.org/2015/10/17/the-case-for-asean-military-integration/.