Of Lambs and Lions: Relations Between Great Powers and their Smaller Neighbors

The relations between great powers and their smaller neighbors are accentuated cases of great-power/small-state relations generally and thus potentially useful for exploring such asymmetries. The article presents a model to explain key features of asymmetric dyadic relationships, in particular the application of political pressure by a great power against its smaller neighbor(s). The model includes three causal variables: tension between the great powers; great-power neighbor's extroversion; the smaller neighbor's foreign policy orientation. The concept of "freedom of action" is critically scrutinized and rejected. It is replaced as dependent variable by "the great-power's propensity to apply pressure against the small state". The elements of the model are presented and discussed. The overall argument of the article is that relations between contiguous small and great powers tend to be unstable, due to (a) the fact that the neighbor's relations are largely shaped by factors outside the bilateral relationship, and (b) the asymmetric importance of the mutual relationship to the two parties.