ABSTRACT
Debates relating to middle powers revolve around a two-pronged definition: they have middle ranking material capabilities and they exhibit a particular type of behaviour in niche areas within international institutions that enhances their agency and contribution. Whilst there are many discussions around this concept and its abstract development, there have been few empirical evaluations of the nature and effects of what constitutes this behaviour or “enhanced agency”. By contrast to these existing debates, this chapter starts by looking at the empirical observations of this behaviour. It adopts an international practice approach and uses ethnographic participant observation within the UN to explore what middle powers behaviour in international institutions looks like. This investigation, therefore, contributes to refining the definition of middle powers as well as provide an extended range of research approaches to develop this research area further.
