Small powers in the Indo-Pacific. Strategies, opportunities and challenges

The chapter’s attempt is to assess the contribution of small state IR theory to the understanding of small powers’ strategies in the IP in relation to different variables – economic, cultural, military. The chapter is divided as follows. The first section will introduce an overview of the scholarly debate around small powers, emphasising how small states have been treated in IR theory. Specifically, the section highlights the core themes that emerged from the literature and the way they contribute to the understanding of small states’ agency in world politics. Also, the most recent literature on power asymmetries and small states strategies is brought in, while discussing the different options available to small states in their interaction with more powerful countries – including the chances of bandwagoning, balancing, nonalignment, hedging, back-passing and engagement. The second section will emphasise in the context of the IP the institutional, economic and diplomatic leverage that small powers have at their disposal to navigate the international system and advance their interests even under the conditions of severe asymmetries. Finally, the third section will present five case studies, namely Laos, the Maldives, Brunei, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Pacific Island Countries (PICs), as empirical evidence of small states’ behaviour vis-à-vis the current geopolitical, geoeconomic and geostrategic developments in the IP. In particular, the section describes how these five actors conceived their presence and interests within the region and which strategies they have followed to manage the interactions with the major powers involved in the area. The summary at the end of the chapter will condense the key findings and results of the research.