SMALL STATES AND REGIONAL STABILITY IN SOUTH ASIA

Centering small states as purposeful actors, this volume examines how they navigate asymmetric power structures in South Asia to secure stability and economic advancement. It surveys strategic choices—balancing, bandwagoning, hedging—and shows how these interact with trade, migration, energy and water interdependence. Country chapters dissect institutional capacities, diplomatic style and domestic political economy in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, considering how governance quality shapes credibility and bargaining power. The book explores cooperative regimes (SAARC, BIMSTEC, IORA) and minilateral clubs, identifying where small states can set agendas or block harmful initiatives. It also considers non-traditional risks—climate shocks, pandemics, illicit flows—and their disproportionate effects on small states, arguing for resilience through diversification, regional public goods and risk-sharing finance. The conclusion presents a pragmatic playbook for small-state agency anchored in consistent rules, economic openness with safeguards, and principled diplomacy.