The Regional Status of Jordan: An Analysis on the Notion of Small State

Abstract

Although small states comprise the majority within the international system, their security and foreign policy experience are deemed relatively unimportant and thus ignored by the mainstream perspectives in International Relations. This article aims to analyse the status of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan within the Middle East regional system with a reference to the concept of “small state”. The first section focuses on the notion of small state and suggests an authentic definition of the concept. The piece, then, analyses the major sources of vulnerability and resilience of Jordan as a small state. The article aims to make two contributions to the current literature: Firstly, to develop a regional perspective for the definition of small state; and secondly, to show the outstanding advantages enjoyed by the small states that can eventually balance their weaknesses due to their size. Jordan is an ideal case to investigate the subject within the Middle Eastern context

Keywords

• Small state
• Jordan
• Middle East
• regional politics
• regional security complex

Ürdün'ün Bölgesel Konumu: Küçük Devlet Kavramı Çerçevesinde Bir İnceleme

Abstract

Uluslararası sistemdeki devletlerin çoğunluğunu oluşturmalarına karşın, küçük devletlerin güvenlik ve dış politika deneyimleri ana akım uluslararası ilişkiler yaklaşımları tarafından genelde önemsiz bulunmuş ve göz ardı edilmiştir. Bu makale, Ürdün Haşimi Krallığı’nın Ortadoğu bölgesel sistemindeki konumunu “küçük devlet” kavramı çerçevesinde değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bunun için öncelikle küçük devlet kavramına eğilmekte ve özgün bir küçük devlet tanımı geliştirmeye çalışmaktadır. Daha sonra, bir küçük devlet olarak Ürdün’ün belli başlı incinebilirliklerinin ve dirençliliğinin analizini yapmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın mevcut yazına yapmayı amaçladığı katkı, iki noktada özetlenebilir: İlki, küçük devlet tanımı konusunda yeni ve bölgesel bir perspektif geliştirmektir. İkincisi, küçük devletlerin küçük olmaktan kaynaklanan tüm zayıflıklarına karşın, bunu dengeleyecek önemli avantajlara da sahip olabileceğini göstermektir. Ortadoğu bağlamında Ürdün bu duruma iyi bir örnek oluşturmaktadır.

Keywords

• Küçük devlet
• Ürdün
• Ortadoğu
• bölgesel siyaset
• bölgesel güvenlik kompleksi

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