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Foreign policy is one of the most complex policies of every state, and Portugal and Iceland are no exception. The "Small States and Big Powers: Portugal and Iceland's Foreign Relations" book analyses the importance of relations with big powers or regional and international organisations from a shelter theory perspective, detailing the degree of political, economic and societal shelter that they have provided to Portugal and to Iceland over time. Despite having followed distinct paths, Portugal and Iceland have some important similarities in their foreign policy, namely in relation to the European and the Atlantic dimensions and their participation in regional organisations. The book examines their decisions to join or not to join regional organisations, and both countries' bilateral relations with other important parts of the world, namely Africa, the Nordic states and China. This book compares the foreign policies of Portugal and Iceland considering their commonly identified status as small states and place them within the shelter theory framework, and its findings indicate that both countries need to balance their international relations with shelter provided by different actors. Their size and political and economic capabilities matter in their bilateral and multilateral relations. It is therefore in both countries' interest to maintain strong cooperation not only with big powers, but also regional and international organisations, depending on their field of action, in order to flourish politically, economically and socially

1. Portugal and Iceland: Foreign policy constructed by smallness? -- 2. Portugal, the European Union and Shelter Theory -- 3. A Reluctant European: Iceland and European integration -- 4. Portugal and NATO: enduring alliance or necessary shelter? -- 5. The Small State and the Superpower: Iceland's Relations with the United States -- 6. Iceland´s Relations with the Nordic States -- 7. Portugal's contemporary relations with Africa: a limited shelter? -- 8. Sino-Icelandic Relations -- 9. The many shades of shelter: Portugal and Iceland´s quest for political, economic and societal shelter.

"Small State Foreign Policy" published on by Oxford University Press.

The book tackles the issue of small state survival. It focuses on the state level, where it finds the key factors that determine small state survival and proliferation. The author demonstrates theoretically, quantitatively, and historically that small state survival depends first-and-foremost on the structure and particular features of the states system in which the small state finds itself

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction: Lilliputians in Gulliver's World? -- Part I: Defining Contributions to the Literature -- 1. The Power of Small States: Diplomacy in World War II -- 2. Lilliputians' Dilemmas: Small States in International Politics -- 3. The Inequality of States: A Study of the Small Power in International Relations -- 4. Micro-states: The Principality of Liechtenstein -- Part II: Refining the Small State Debate -- 5. Weak States in the International System -- 6. Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe -- 7. The Role of Small States in the European Union -- Part III: Small State Capacity in International Relations -- 8. Learning, Realism, and Alliances: The Weight of the Shadow of the Past -- 9. Norm Entrepreneurs: Scandinavia's Role in World Politics -- Conclusion: Learning from Lilliput -- Annotated Bibliography -- Contributors -- Index.

This book uses a comparative foreign policy research method and seven focused case studies to analyze the foreign policy choices of small states as predicted by the leading three theories in international relations: realism, domestic factors, and social constructivism.

The aim of this article is to analyze the concept of small states in the discipline of International Relations to show differences and contradictions in the definition and to discuss the literature on foreign policy and alliance behavior of small states. The article emphasizes that there has not been a single approach to the definition of small states and there is diversity in the studies dealing with foreign policy and alliance behavior of these states. While the article enables us to question to what extent this diversity makes the category of small states meaningful, on the other hand, it tries to show that this situation reflects the developments and theoretical discussions in the discipline. Differences in defining small states and diversity of foreign policy and alliance behavior lead scholars, who benefit from contending theories of International Relations, to deal with the category of small states from different perspectives.

Foreign policies and diplomatic relations.

This article explores the small new member states at the EU 'frontline' in their efforts to upload their geographic preferences in the EU foreign policy. It starts by reviewing the preferences of Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovenia. Next, it compares how they pursued these preferences in the EU. Third, it indicates their uploading success. Finally, it notes that these countries, despite their 'double disadvantages', moved closer toward 'small state smart strategy', including compromise-seeking behaviour, persuasive deliberation, lobbying, and using coalitions. While their uploading success has been mixed, their preference projection in the EU foreign policy has been visible. Adapted from the source document.

Since 1985. Some emphasis on South Africa.