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Small State as a Third State: Switzerland and Asia-Europe Interregionalism

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Small States Inside and Outside the European Union

Abstract

Small states have become so numerous as to seem commonplace in the contemporary international system. The standard state is a small state nowadays, while large states are rather the exception. This, of course, undermines the notion of a small state at all and makes it difficult to use the concept as a category of analysis. Moreover, the concept of the state itself is being challenged by the dominant process of globalization. And yet, the notion of a small state is still widely used, and a large number of states perceive themselves or are perceived as small states. Switzerland is such a small state, though its economic strength is that of a middle-ranking power.

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Authors
  1. Heiner Hänggi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Peace Foundation, Switzerland

    Laurent Goetschel

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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Hänggi, H. (1998). Small State as a Third State: Switzerland and Asia-Europe Interregionalism. In: Goetschel, L. (eds) Small States Inside and Outside the European Union. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2832-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2832-3_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-5060-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-2832-3

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