Activity: Talk or presentation › Lecture and oral contribution
Description
The study of small state foreign policy emerged as separate discipline within the study of international relations in 1950-1960s. In my research I am going to use qualitative rather than quantitative criteria to define “small states". In particular, one of such criteria from the point of view of foreign policy is the perception of a state as a subject of international relations. According to a Danish researcher H. Branner, in the definition of “smallness” of a state it is important not only to understand how this state perceives its own limitations, but also the perception of it by other states. In this study, the major attribute of smallness of a state is considered to be the behavioural criterion (adfærdkriteriet), or the self-positioning in the international arena. With this regard, I am going to provide a discourse analysis of the major foreign policy concepts and political statement of Danish politicians in order to understand whether the definition based on the criterion of perception is the most adequate in reflecting the contents of the Danish foreign policy in the period under consideration.