Small states in the international system : at peace and at war / Neal G. Jesse and John R. Dreyer.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chapter One: Small States as Distinct Units of Analysis and as Different than Large and Middle Powers -- Chapter Two: Realism and Small States in the International System -- Chapter Three: Non-Structural Factors of Foreign Policy: Domestic Factors and Social Constructivism -- Chapter Four: Switzerland, 1815-Present: Small State in the Middle of a Multipolar Regional Power Structure -- Chapter Five: Ireland, 1920-present: A Singular Stance for Nearly a Century -- Chapter Six: Small European Buffer States in Two World Wars -- Chapter Seven: Finland, 1939-1945: A Small State Resists Aggression -- Chapter Eight: The Third Indo-China War, 1979 -- Chapter Nine: The Ogaden War 1977-1978, Ethiopia vs. Somalia -- Chapter Ten: The Chaco War, 1932-1935: Paraguay vs. Bolivia -- Chapter Eleven: Generalizations about Small State Behavior.

Small States in the International System addresses the little understood foreign policy choices of small states. It outlines a theoretical perspective of small states that starts from the assumption that small states are not just large states writ small. In essence, small states behave differently from larger and more powerful states. As such, this book compares three theories of foreign policy choice: realism (and its emphasis on structural factors), domestic factors, and social constructivism (emphasizing norms and identity) across seven focused case studies from around the world in the 20th Century. Through an examination of the foreign policy choices of Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ethiopia, Somalia, Vietnam, Bolivia and Paraguay, this book concludes that realist theories built on great power politics cannot adequately explain small state behavior in most instances. When small states are threatened by larger, belligerent states, the small state behaves along the predictions of social constructivist theory; when small states threaten each other, they behave along realist predictions. -- Provided by publisher.