The story of small state survival

Analysing Revitalised Security Industry: The Tech-Powered Transformation for Small States

“…It also does not have any widely accepted definition among scholars. However, there were adherents of this doctrine in Norway, Sweden, and mainly Denmark before the First World War, which was the complete relinquishment of hope to institute an effective defence (Maass, 2017). Some positively argued that this concept is the subset of security dilemma where the small states, in particular, attempt to strike a balance between defence and deterrence but do not plan to increase their capabilities (Maass, 2017;Vital, 1967).…”

“…However, there were adherents of this doctrine in Norway, Sweden, and mainly Denmark before the First World War, which was the complete relinquishment of hope to institute an effective defence (Maass, 2017). Some positively argued that this concept is the subset of security dilemma where the small states, in particular, attempt to strike a balance between defence and deterrence but do not plan to increase their capabilities (Maass, 2017;Vital, 1967). Many relate this concept to the idea that small states are extremely weak and cannot build military strength, thus, have to opt the strategies like forming alliances and leveraging international organizations to mitigate security threats (Keohane, 1969;Fox, 1959).…”

“…This might lead to constraining the room to manoeuvre for small states (Maass, 2009). Hence, small states are not the actors in the international domain to act in a predictive way as great powers do (Maass, 2017). And, there are small states who not only depend on their foreign policy and diplomatic methods but choose to consider military build-up for their survival in an antagonistic environment, defying the conventional notion of incapacity of the small states (Raska, 2016).…”

“…Today, with an increase in high-tech capabilities, the small states have meticulously chosen meaningful escape from the traditional notion of smallness. Defensive nihilism for small states is a strategy that involves intentionally maintaining minimal military capabilities to discourage potential aggressors by creating uncertainty and doubt about the feasibility of a successful attack (Maass, 2017).…”