Abstract
Building on the analysis of the Gulf States’ changing role in the world economy, this chapter examines the new possibilities for the exercise of power and influence by small states in the global era. Earlier assumptions of vulnerability and lack of resilience have been eroded as opportunities for small states to make their voice heard have proliferated in an intensely globalised environment in which leverage is projected through multiple channels and is less reliant than ever before on territorial size. This general trend has been magnified still further in the case of resource-rich small states possessing both the intent and the capability to shape globalising forces to their own advantage. Both Qatar and the UAE, led by the entrepreneurial leaderships of Doha, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, have proven adept at delinking territory and power, and consequently have emerged as regional powers with international reach. This turns on its head much conventional thinking about the role of small states in world politics and international relations.
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Notes
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© 2016 Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
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Ulrichsen, K.C. (2016). Small States in World Politics. In: The Gulf States in International Political Economy. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385611_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137385611_3
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