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What Makes an Awkward Power? Recurrent Patterns and Defining Characteristics

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Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory

Part of the book series: Global Political Transitions ((GLPOTR))

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Abstract

In the introductory chapter to this volume, we examined the power categories that are integral to the discipline of IR, and we identified a series of aberrant states located close to the apex of the international hierarchy, which have so far escaped a conclusive categorisation under the appropriate great and middle power rubrics. In this chapter, we draw on the volume’s contributions and identify six recurring elements that provide useful direction in defining such Awkward Powers. They are: (i) power asymmetry (material capabilities); (ii) power liminality (transitional status); (iii) power frustration (external acceptance); and (iv) awkward pathways (alternative governance); (v) awkward strategies (coping mechanisms); and (vi) awkward postures (divergent behaviours).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins, “The Case for Awkward Powers,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 3–39.

  2. 2.

    Kurt M. Campbell and Rush Doshi, “The Coronavirus Could Reshape Global Order,” Foreign Affairs, March 18, 2020, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-03-18/coronavirus-could-reshape-global-order.

  3. 3.

    Christopher Layne, “The US–Chinese Power Shift and the End of the Pax Americana,” International Affairs 94, no. 1 (2018): 89–111; David Walton and Thomas Wilkins, “Introduction,” in Rethinking Middle Powers in the Asian Century: New Theories, New Cases, eds. T. Struye de Swielande, D. Vandamme, D. Walton, and T. Wilkins (London: Routledge, 2019), 1–16.

  4. 4.

    Vassilis K. Fouskas and Bülent Gökay, The Disintegration of Euro-Atlanticism and New Authoritarianism: Global Power-Shift (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), 15.

  5. 5.

    Anthony Peter Spanakos and Joseph Marques, “Brazil’s Rise as a Middle Power: The Chinese Contribution,” in Middle Powers and the Rise of China, eds. Bruce Gilley and Andrew O’Neil (Georgetown: Georgetown University Press, 2014), 221.

  6. 6.

    William Curti Wohlforth, The Elusive Balance: Power and Perceptions During the Cold War (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993), 2.

  7. 7.

    William Curti Wohlforth, The Elusive Balance: Power and Perceptions During the Cold War (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993), 12.

  8. 8.

    Gabriele Abbondanza, “The Historical Determination of the Middle Power Concept,” in Rethinking Middle Powers in the Asian Century: New Theories, New Cases, eds. T. Struye de Swielande, D. Vandamme, D. Walton, and T. Wilkins (London: Routledge, 2019), 32–44.

  9. 9.

    Gian Luca Gardini, “Brazil: What Rise of What Power?” Bulletin of Latin American Research 35, no. 1 (2016): 13.

  10. 10.

    Countries that we deemed awkward powers but are not examined in this volume are: Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

  11. 11.

    “World Economic Outlook Database 2020,” International Monetary Fund, accessed July 7, 2020, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2019/02/weodata/index.aspx; “SIPRI Military Expenditure Database,” SIPRI, accessed July 8, 2020, https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex.

  12. 12.

    Martin A. Smith, Power in the Changing Global Order: The US, Russia and China (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2012), 17.

  13. 13.

    Philomena Murray, Alex Warleigh-Lack, and Baogang He, “Awkward States and Regional Organisations: The United Kingdom and Australia Compared,” Comparative European Politics 12, no. 3 (2014): 279–300; Heather Field, “Awkward States: EU Enlargement and Slovakia, Croatia and Serbia,” Perspectives on European Politics and Society 1, no. 1 (2000): 123–146; Malin Stegmann McCallion and Alex Brianson (Eds.), Nordic States and European Integration: Awkward Partners in the North? (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018); Emilian Kavalski, “The International Politics of Fusion and Fissure in the Awkward States of Post-Soviet Central Asia,” in Stable Outside, Fragile Inside? Post-Soviet Statehood in Central Asia, ed. Emilian Kavalski (London: Routledge, 2016), 1–31.

  14. 14.

    Gabriele Abbondanza, “The Odd Axis: Germany, Italy, and Japan as Awkward Great Powers,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 43–71.

  15. 15.

    Sarah Teo, “Middle Power Awkwardness? Indonesia’s Norm Entrepreneurship in ASEAN,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 151–176; Dorothée Vandamme, “The Normative Awkwardness of Pakistan,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 243–260.

  16. 16.

    Jonathan Ping, “Malaysia as an Awkward Middle Power,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 177–197.

  17. 17.

    Virginie Grzelczyk, “Neither This Nor That: Understanding North Korea Via Role Theory,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 261–283.

  18. 18.

    Colin S. Gray, Hard Power and Soft Power: The Utility of Military Force as an Instrument of Policy in the 21st Century (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, 2011), 28; Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace (New York: A. A. Knopf, 1948), 110–148.

  19. 19.

    Kenneth Waltz, “The Emerging Structure of International Politics,” International Security 18, no. 2 (1993): 45.

  20. 20.

    Laura Neack, The New Foreign Policy: Complex Interactions, Competing Interests (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), 148–152.

  21. 21.

    The Future of NATO and European Defence: Ninth Report of Session 2007–08. Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence (London: UK Parliament, House of Commons Defence Committee, 2008), 208.

  22. 22.

    Martin Wight, Power Politics (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1978), 26.

  23. 23.

    Babette Never, “Toward the Green Economy: Assessing Countries’ Green Power,” GIGA Working Paper No. 226 (Hamburg: German Institute of Global and Area Studies, 2013), 24.

  24. 24.

    Vincent Mosco, The Digital Sublime: Myth, Power, and Cyberspace (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005).

  25. 25.

    Thomas Wilkins and Lucas Rezende, “A Liminal and Transitional Awkward Power: Brazil Betwixt the Great and Middle Powers,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 95–128.

  26. 26.

    Emilian Kavalski, “India: An Awkward Great Power?” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 73–94.

  27. 27.

    International Monetary Fund, “World Economic and Financial Surveys: World Economic Outlook Database,” https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2016/01/weodata/index.aspx.

  28. 28.

    Kenneth Waltz, “The Emerging Structure of International Politics,” International Security 18, no. 2 (1993): 72.

  29. 29.

    Jiye Kim, “Between a Regional Hegemon and a Middle Power: Is Nigeria an Awkward Middle Power?” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 221–241.

  30. 30.

    Marion Jacques, Tanguy Struye de Swielande, and Tanguy de Wilde d’Estmael, “Belgium: The Capacities of a Middle Power, but the Ambitions of a Small Power?” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 349–371.

  31. 31.

    Peng Er Lam, “Singapore as an Awkward ‘Little Red Dot’: Between the Small and Middle Power Status,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 329–348.

  32. 32.

    Gil Merom, “Awkward and Peculiar: On Israel Flying Above Its Designated Positional Pigeonhole,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 305–328.

  33. 33.

    A similar consideration could be made with reference to other “rising” awkward powers that were not included in this book. They are: Argentina, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

  34. 34.

    Rory Medcalf, Indo-Pacific Empire: China, America and the Contest for the World’s Pivotal Region (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020), 151.

  35. 35.

    Randall L. Schweller, “Realism and the Present Great Power System: Growth and Positional Conflict Over Scarce Resources,” in Unipolar Politics: Realism and State Strategies After the Cold War, eds. Ethan B. Kapstein and Michael Mastanduno (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 28–68.

  36. 36.

    Kenneth Waltz, “The Emerging Structure of International Politics,” International Security 18, no. 2 (1993): 66.

  37. 37.

    Laura Neack, The New Foreign Policy: Complex Interactions, Competing Interests (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), 148–152.

  38. 38.

    Kenneth Waltz, “The Emerging Structure of International Politics,” International Security 18, no. 2 (1993): 44–79.

  39. 39.

    Peter J. Katzenstein, A World of Regions: Asia and Europe in the American Imperium (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005), 225.

  40. 40.

    To a lesser extent, this could also apply to Israel.

  41. 41.

    Gabriele Abbondanza, “Australia the ‘Good International Citizen’? The Limits of a Traditional Middle Power,” Australian Journal of International Affairs 75, no. 2 (2021): 178–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2020.1831436.

  42. 42.

    Narushige Michishita, North Korea’s Military-Diplomatic Campaigns, 1966–2008 (London: Routledge, 2009).

  43. 43.

    Andrew Hurrell, “Hegemony, Liberalism and Global Order: What Space for Would-Be Great Powers?” International Affairs 82, no. 1 (2006): 1–19.

  44. 44.

    Oliver Stuenkel, India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA): The Rise of the Global South (London: Routledge, 2019).

  45. 45.

    Daniel Flemes, “India–Brazil–South Africa (IBSA) in the New Global Order: Interests, Strategies and Values of the Emerging Coalition,” International Studies 46, no. 4 (2009): 402.

  46. 46.

    Yolanda Spies, “The Equivocal Power of South Africa,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 199–219.

  47. 47.

    Aleksandar Mitreski, “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Rentier Middle Power in Pursuit of Global Leadership of the Islamic Community,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 285–304.

  48. 48.

    Peter Nadin, UN Security Council Reform (London: Routledge, 2016), 43–71.

  49. 49.

    Amy Freedman, “Thailand as an Awkward Middle Power,” in Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory, eds. Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Wilkins (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 131–149.

  50. 50.

    Katharina P. Coleman, “Token Troop Contributions to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations,” in Providing Peacekeepers: The Politics, Challenges, and Future of United Nations Peacekeeping Contributions, eds. A. J. Bellamy and P. D. Williams (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 16–20.

  51. 51.

    Thomas Wilkins, “Defining Middle Powers Through IR Theory: Three Images,” in Rethinking Middle Powers in the Asian Century: New Theories, New Cases, eds. T. Struye de Swielande, D. Vandamme, D. Walton, and T. Wilkins (London: Routledge, 2019), 45–61.

  52. 52.

    Brad Glosserman, Peak Japan: The End of Great Ambitions (Georgetown: Georgetown University Press, 2019).

  53. 53.

    Other awkward powers are: Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

  54. 54.

    Gabriele Abbondanza, “Middle Powers and Great Powers Through History: The Concept from Ancient Times to the Present Day,” History of Political Thought 41, no. 3 (2020): 397–418.

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  1. Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Thomas Stow Wilkins & Gabriele Abbondanza

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  1. Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Gabriele Abbondanza

  2. Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Thomas Stow Wilkins

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Wilkins, T.S., Abbondanza, G. (2022). What Makes an Awkward Power? Recurrent Patterns and Defining Characteristics. In: Abbondanza, G., Wilkins, T.S. (eds) Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory. Global Political Transitions. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0370-9_16

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