Middle Power Statecraft

Book excerpt: Jonathan Ping's volume establishes a unifying theory for the concept of middle power (MP). MPs are states which have an innate form of statecraft and perceived power as a result of their size. The book presents hybridization theory as a basis for analysis, policy development and prediction of MP statecraft and perceived power. A prerequisite to the founding of hybridization theory is the new statistical method of definition which identifies sixteen MPs of Asia and the Pacific. The volume takes a comparative focus on Indonesia and Malaysia to inform and test hybridization theory, as well as to provide a historical analysis of Southeast Asia from a statecraft and perceived power perspective. It offers researchers and scholars of international relations and international political economy a theory that can be applied to the practical study of all middle sized states, while middle sized states can apply the same theory to enhance their own ability to (re)create their state.