Malta — Russia. On the Diplomacy of EU’s Small States

Arsalan Alshinawi

Authors

Arsalan Alshinawi University of Malta

Abstract

A pertinent question in the study of International Relations (IR) is ‘how does the diplomacy of small states diff er from other diplomacies.’ Apparently for Malta, which tends, or rather constrained, to adopt a largely regional policy direction, geography puts Russia mostly outside the immediate points of reference and domain of interest. However, the dynamics of bilateral relations between Malta and Russia in the context of the agreed foreign policy of the European Union (EU) for security and defense, referred to as the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), represent an interesting case for the study of the position of ‘Small States’ in the international political economy. This article demonstrates that in Malta, the smallest country in the EU, the leading political parties, although somehow diff erent in ideology and approach, are aware that the government cannot ‘aff ord’ to noticeably ‘change’ its vision, criteria and mechanisms for its bilateral relations with an re-emerging world power like Russia. The key argument of this article is that in any analysis of the range of issues surrounding diplomacy and foreign policy in the case of a country like Malta towards the Kremlin, geopolitics and geo-economics remain fundamental.

Keywords:

Malta and Russia, bilateral relations, international relations, diplomacy of small states, foreign policy of the European Union, geopolitics and geo-economics, security

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References

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