This book is a unique collection of high quality articles analysing legal issues with particular regard to small states. The small states of the world differ considerably in their geography, history, political structures, legal systems and wealth. Nevertheless, because of their size, small states face a set of common challenges including vulnerability to external economic impacts such as changing trade regimes and limited ability to diversify economic activity; limited public and private sector capacity, including the legal and judicial infrastructure; a need for regional co-operation; a vulnerability to environmental changes as well as a limited ability to engage with supranational bodies and the forces of globalisation. This is the first volume of an exciting and unique new series, The World of Small States. In this work, legal experts from small jurisdictions and those with a particular interest in legal issues facing small states explore inter alia ethics in small jurisdictions, legal education and the profession in small states, the challenges facing small states with mixed legal systems, the constitutional arrangements in small states, small states as tax havens, and intellectual property and competition law issues.

Theoretically innovative and empirically expansive, A Small State's Guide to Influence in World Politics sets out to become the new authority for the study of small states in International Relations (IR). The book's explanatory approach allows for a comparison of small states' situations and relationships across a global selection of some twenty cases in issues of international security, economy, and institutions. In doing so, it shows how IR's longstandingneglect of small states is a missed opportunity--not just for understanding small states but for developing better theories of IR.

This handbook covers a wide spectrum of issues relating to small states. Chapters in the volume have been grouped under the three main themes of economic, social and environmental issues. The economics sections include chapters dealing with trade, finance and regulatory frameworks, while the social theme covers health, migration, population ageing, as well as overall social wellbeing. The environmental theme examines matters such as measuring environmental performance, natural disasters, the ocean economy, and the validity of the Sustainable Development Goals. One major issue is the definition of small states. As this volume demonstrates, generally speaking, population is used to measure country size in the literature. However, it clearly emerges that there is no real consensus as to the population cut-off point that distinguishes small states from large ones. While the approaches taken by the authors vary, in all cases the chapters draw practical policy implications for small states. The book can therefore be considered as a wide-ranging depositary of information on small states with the aim of deriving policy prescriptions, and thus as an excellent resource for academics, students and policymakers.

The book examines whether small jurisdictions (states) are confronted with specific issues providing social security and how to deal with these issues. How is social security law impacted by the smallness of the jurisdiction? First, the author examines the key concepts ‘small jurisdiction’ and ‘social security’ as he understands them in the present research. He then pays some attention to the relation between social security and social security law and subsequently makes an excursion to explore the notion of legal transplants. In the second part, the author first examines the main features characterizing small states according to the general literature on small states, focusing on features which may be relevant to social security. He also includes an overview of the (limited) literature dealing with the specific social security issues small jurisdictions have to deal with. In other words, the second part provides the reader with the status quaestionis. In the third part, the author takes a look at the social security systems of 20 selected small jurisdictions. He does so according to a uniform scheme, in order to facilitate their comparison. These 20 case studies allow him in a next part to test the correctness of the statements made in Part 2. In the fourth part, he compares the social security systems of the 20 small jurisdictions. He draws conclusions as to the main question, but also to test the validity of the current literature on the topic as described in Part 2. Special attention goes to the use of legal transplants for the definition of the personal scope of social security arrangements. In the concluding part of the book, the author formulates some suggestions for the benefit of the social security systems of the small jurisdictions, based on his research.

Foreign policy is one of the most complex policies of every state, and Portugal and Iceland are no exception. The “Small States and Big Powers: Portugal and Iceland’s Foreign Relations” book analyses the importance of relations with big powers or regional and international organisations from a shelter theory perspective, detailing the degree of political, economic and societal shelter that they have provided to Portugal and to Iceland over time. Despite having followed distinct paths, Portugal and Iceland have some important similarities in their foreign policy, namely in relation to the European and the Atlantic dimensions and their participation in regional organisations. The book examines their decisions to join or not to join regional organisations, and both countries’ bilateral relations with other important parts of the world, namely Africa, the Nordic states and China. This book compares the foreign policies of Portugal and Iceland considering their commonly identified status as small states and place them within the shelter theory framework, and its findings indicate that both countries need to balance their international relations with shelter provided by different actors. Their size and political and economic capabilities matter in their bilateral and multilateral relations. It is therefore in both countries’ interest to maintain strong cooperation not only with big powers, but also regional and international organisations, depending on their field of action, in order to flourish politically, economically and socially.

In this book, Armen Sarkissian, former president of Armenia, argues that small states can navigate the complex challenges of the twenty-first century in smarter ways than 'greater' powers. For smallness--often regarded as a weakness-- can be a strength. It may induce insecurity in states, but also endows them with an instinct for survival. Large states are ponderous; small states can be agile and adaptive. Drawing on his deep experience as a scientist, businessman, diplomat and head of state, Sarkissian offers captivating portraits of small states, from Africa to Europe to Asia, that have overcome seemingly insuperable odds to establish themselves as oases of political stability, cultural tolerance, technological innovation, financial prudence and scientific research. Sarkissian returns to the uncertain beginnings of these small states to demystify their improbable rise. Along the way, he introduces us to a cast of tenacious leaders with a knack for converting crisis into opportunity. Widely regarded as the most respected Armenian leader on the world stage, Sarkissian ends with a poignant homage to his motherland. Part memoir, part manifesto, it is a stirring insight into the world's oldest Christian country, which is at once an ancient civilisation, a small state and a global nation.

Offering empirical richness within a consistent theoretical framework, this work provides a comprehensive examination of small state foreign policy.

This book analyses whether the EU’s drift towards European strategic autonomy presents a challenge or a window of opportunity for its small member states to advance their security interests. The volume presents small states’ perceptions of European strategic autonomy, highlighting their expectations and concerns. The chapters focus on the depth and breadth of European strategic autonomy, national security considerations, assessment of the impact on transatlantic relations, the expected outputs, and its potential impact on the EU’s institutional structure. It also shows how systemic circumstances and the interests of powerful states, either belonging to the EU (France, Germany, and Poland) or having a significant say in European security architecture (the US), establish opportunities and constraints for the small states to shape European strategic autonomy. In particular, the study focuses on the diverging interests of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, and the Netherlands. It demonstrates that, in most cases, European strategic autonomy is perceived not as an alternative to NATO but as a supplementary element that could facilitate the development of national military capabilities, indigenous defence industries and resilience to non-military threats. Ultimately, the book suggests that national approaches towards European strategic autonomy mainly stem from pragmatic national security and foreign policy considerations, while largely ignoring grand strategic ideas. This book will be of much interest to students of European politics, security studies, and international relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book updates the 1989 volume 'Caribbean in World Affairs' providing a comprehensive and theoretically-grounded account of diplomatic developments in the Caribbean. The new material includes attention to the changed global setting, updated theoretical developments in foreign policy, and the inclusion of Haiti and Suriname.