Developing status as a small state: Estonia’s foreign aid strategy

Matthew Crandall, lecturer of International Relations at the School of Governance, Law, and Society publishes an article about Estonia’s foreign aid strategy in the academic journal „East European Politics“.

„The study of small state foreign policy has traditionally focused on size and the influence it plays on small state behaviour. This article instead uses the social identity theory to evaluate small state behaviour,“ says Matthew Crandall.

The author writes in the article that using the concept of status, Estonia’s bilateral development cooperation with Georgia and Moldova is evaluated. Despite Estonia’s limited resources, the impact of its aid was significant in terms of boosting Estonia’s status in the eyes of Georgia and Moldova.

Using the concept of status is promising in its ability to explain and understand small state behaviour. The potential impact of this approach is significant as size might best be understood not as material or relational but as psychological.