ABSTRACT
The enhancement of the belligerents' level of expectations regarding the prospective gains from the continued preservation of neutrality (or, alternatively, the downplay of the anticipated benefits emanating from violating that neutrality) constitutes a vital prerequisite for the successful maintenance of this political course; yet it is not always a sufficient condition. In those instances where the cost of violating neutrality is so low as to approach zero, the belligerents may be tempted to risk bearing this cost even for negligible benefits. Therefore, in order to maximise the chances of remaining outside a specific war, the small state must supplement the positive component of its neutrality by negative measures, namely, by indicating the disproportionate cost of violating this neutrality to the belligerents.
