Description
With its focus on the effects of small size on foreign policy, Small State Studies have neglected the problematization of statehood in most of its theories. Consequently, the sub-discipline narrowed its focus down to the study of those actors which meet the general requirements of statehood. Nevertheless, the study of the effects of size on international behaviour can be highly insightful among protostates or quasi states, whose cases are mostly analysed solely from the perspective of their quest towards acheiving statehood.
The paper attempts to connect the theoretical literature concerning propostates, quasi states, and small states thus providing an analytical framework to analyse how actors without definitive statehood overcome the effects of smallness (or even capitalize from it). The study will focus on two case studies, the Palestinian Authority and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The paper will contribute to questioning the state-centric narratives in mainstream IR and Small State Studies.
