Garčević Discusses Standing of Small States in Global Affairs
Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published an essay in Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s “Political Trends & Dynamics” on the role and influence of small states in Southeast Europe.
The piece, titled “Small states in the region: from intuitive towards smart diplomacy,” Garčević discusses the misconception that a country’s size reflects its strength or weakness, i.e. smaller countries are weaker. He states that small states – including countries from the region – can successfully coordinate complex systems like the European Union (EU) or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Speaking from experience as the Ambassador of Montenegro in Brussels and Vienna, Garčević argues that Montenegro’s diplomatic achievements since its independence have exceeded expectations. Yet, their successes are often results of intuitive rather than well-planned diplomatic activities. Multilateralism, he states, opens avenues for small states in the global arena; however, to be able to play a relatively significant role, they must develop clever diplomacy as distinct from either big diplomacy with heavy infrastructure or small diplomacy, which may not have much infrastructure at all.
The full essay can be read on Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s website.
During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about Ambassador Garčević on his faculty profile.