Beyond Great Powers and Hegemons

This book adds a new dimension to the discussion of the relationship between great powers and weaker states that align with them or not. Previous studies have focused on the role of the larger (or super) power and how it manages its relationships with other states, or on how great or major powers challenge or balance the hegemonic state. This book seeks to explain why weaker states follow more powerful global or regional states or tacitly or openly resist their goals, and how they navigate their relationships with the hegemon. The contributors explore interests, motivations, objectives, and strategies of these "followers" including whether they can and do challenge the policies and strategies or the core position of the hegemon. Through the analysis of both historical and contemporary cases that feature global and regional hegemons in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Asia, and that address a range of interest areas, from political, to economic and military, the book reveals domestic and international factors that account for the motivations and actions of weaker states.