Introduction

The study of the foreign policies of small states is a neglected aspect of the discipline of international relations. The focus of academic literature has generally been upon the foreign policies of great powers, or where regional studies have been made, the concern has often been with domestic policies. Annette Baker Fox’s The Power of Small States (1959) marked an important contribution to understanding the limitations and possibilities of small states during the Second World War. However, academic concern has remained fixed upon the great powers. The literature providing systematic coverage in depth of the foreign policies of small states has been sporadic. This situation was somewhat offset though as the post-1945 decolonization increased and a growing body of literature appeared which dealt with a variety of issues such as economic aid and development, the role of small states in alliances, neutralism and non-alignment and voting behaviour in international organization. More recently, the general study of Professor David Vital, The Inequality of States (1967) was published at a time when a number of small states, Israel, Rhodesia, and North Vietnam, captured attention by their remarkable capacity for survival in conflict situations. ¹