ABSTRACT
Confronting serious security challenges from powerful aggressors is difficult for small states. By definition, such states are limited in their ability to build sizable and well-equipped military machines. 1 Consequently, small states augment their military capability by allying themselves with other countries. This is known as ‘external balancing’ – mobilization of other countries’ resources in confronting external threats. 2 Alliances, however, can constrain a state's freedom of action. In many cases, a small state's maneuvering room is also constricted by the prevailing structure of the international system and a given regional subsystem. This is particularly true of small states subject to a great power sphere of influence, or situated in an area of competition between great powers. In short, small states have little leeway; their military and diplomatic margin is thin.
