Out now from Oxford University Press!
“Long persuasively presses his case that smaller states, with creative leadership, can often successfully defend their national interests in contests with bigger ones.”
-Richard Feinberg, Foreign Affairs
“the rich theorisation in this book is a watershed moment that has significantly advanced our theoretical study of the strategies of small states.”
-Hillary Briffa, Hague Journal of Diplomacy
“A Small State’s Guide to Influence in World Politics succeeds remarkably. It should be warmly received and become a touchstone text for anybody interested in how the majority of the world’s states engage in international affairs.”
-Jack Corbett, The Round Table.
“Long’s book is rich, accessible and topical, reminding us of the importance of small states in international affairs.”
-Sarina Theys, International Affairs.
University of Chicago Professor Paul Poast’s “IR Book of the Year” for 2022!
Carnegie Endowment “Favorite Wony Reads of 2022“
In A Small State’s Guide to Influence in World Politics, Tom Long shows how small states can identify opportunities and shape effective strategies to achieve their foreign policy goals. To do so, Long puts small states’ relationships at the center of his approach. Although small states are defined by their position as materially weaker actors vis-a-vis large states, Long argues that this condition does not condemn them to impotence or irrelevance. Drawing on typological theory, Long builds an explanation of when and how small states might achieve their goals. The book assesses a global range of cases—both successes and failures—and offers a set of tools for scholars and policymakers to understand how varying international conditions shape small states’ opportunities for influence.
Tom Long is a Reader in the Department of Politics & International Studies at the University of Warwick.
Reviews
“Long persuasively presses his case that smaller states, with creative leadership, can often successfully defend their national interests in contests with bigger ones. He urges his scholarly colleagues to redefine international relations studies by stretching beyond the interactions of great powers to focus on the many smaller states that light up the geopolitical firmament.”
Richard Feinberg, Foreign Affairs
“Tom Long’s A Small State’s Guide to Influence in World Politics is a trail-blazing effort to build new theory in the discipline of small state studies – as persuasive in its conceptual development as it is dazzling in the genuine internationalism of its case studies. … the rich theorisation in this book is a watershed moment that has significantly advanced our theoretical study of the strategies of small states.”
Hillary Briffa, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy
“[A]gainst the aims it sets for itself – to outline and demonstrate the significance of a relational approach to the study of small states that starts from the position of asymmetry and is global in coverage – A Small State’s Guide to Influence in World Politics succeeds remarkably. It should be warmly received and become a touchstone text for anybody interested in how the majority of the world’s states engage in international affairs.”
Jack Corbett, The Round Table.
“The book serves as a reminder that small states not only have agency but also matter a great deal to global outcomes, especially in an increasingly contested world.”
Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Tom Long, PhD 