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Small States, Big Impact – Navigating Global Challenges through Collaborative Multilateralism

English Pages, 21. 5. 2025

Many thanks for inviting me to participate in this discussion. Its title implies that small states can have big impact. I am not sure about this. I am someone who comes from a “small state”, which means from a state which has always been insufficiently able to influence the events behind its borders and – similarly – insufficiently able to block foreign interventions within our borders. I suppose Macedonians have the same or a very similar experience.

I am an old and, in addition to it, conservative person. I instinctively resist new words and terms. The term “collaborative multilateralism” is not my term. It comes from the brave new world of today. In the past, we used to think in terms of deals, treaties and pacts, which were agreed upon and signed when there was a common interest of countries to work together to deal with something relevant for the countries concerned.

The key precondition for making a meaningful deal among big or small countries is the eventual coincidence of their interests. Without such coincidence, there cannot be a deal, a treaty, a pact. The title of the session – I suppose intentionally – does not mention big states. It implies that only the small states are considered a fundamental element of collaborative multilateralism. This is a wishful thinking. They are not. The global agendas are in the current world dictated by the superpowers, by big, not small states. Small states are most often not the subjects of the deal but its objects.

That is valid both at a global as well as at a continental level. My country, after being for 20 years a member state of the European Union, knows something about this. We shouldn’t be misled by the fact that even a small country—such as Estonia just now, when its representative holds the position of EU Foreign Affairs Minister – is able to introduce fundamental initiatives. It is possible only when it presents the positions (and interests) of a larger country or countries. I am sure Macedonia has the same experience from its membership in various international institutions and organizations.

The substance of the world has been changing in recent years. We are moving into the world of multipolarity. The total dominance of one superpower and its fundamental role in the world is no longer the reality. Nor are we living in a bipolar world, as it was the case during the Cold War. At that time, it was attractive for small countries to push for alternatives to the policies of both competing blocs. It was therefore rational and meaningful to be an active part of the Non-Aligned Movement as was the case of former Yugoslavia. To expect potential repetition of that is unrealistic.

The future will be more polycentric, more regional and the role of global supranational institutions will decline. Some of us may be optimistic that in such a world the role of smaller countries will increase, but their interests and priorities in different regions of the world will inevitably diverge.

It seems to me that it will be much more difficult to organize similar initiatives as the Non-Aligned Movement now. Some other people would be tempted to say that the future will be characterized by a bigger role of supranational global institutions and by increased collaborative cooperation among small countries in the world of tomorrow. I am afraid it will not be the case.

Václav Klaus, Notes for Roundtable Discussion, Cultural Diplomacy Forum, Villa Vodno, Skopje, May 21, 2025