Smart Instead of Small in International Relations Theory

Spyridon N. Litsas is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece. He is teaching, researching, and publishing on War Theory, Strategic Analysis, Jihadism, Politics of the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa, US & Russian Foreign Policy in South-Eastern Europe, Turkish Foreign Policy, EU Politics, et al. His most recent publications include, 'US Foreign Policy in the Eastern Mediterranean: Power Politics and Ideology under the Sun'; ‘Stateness and Sovereign Debt: Greece in the European Conundrum’ (with Konstantinos Lavdas & Dimitrios Skiadas); ‘The Eastern Mediterranean in Transition: Multipolarity, Politics and Power’ (eds. with Aristotle Tziampiris), ‘Foreign Policy Under Austerity: Greece’s Return to Normality?’ (eds. with Aristotle Tziampiris). ‘The New Eastern Mediterranean: Theory, Politics and States in a Volatile Era’ (eds. with Aristotle Tziampiris). He has taught International Relations Theory, Security and Leadership as a Visiting Fellow at the Zayed Military University, UAE; SciencesPO, Universite Grenoble Alpes, France; International Hellenic University, Greece; University of Piraeus Greece; Supreme College of War of the Hellenic Armed Forces, Greece; Hellenic Army Academy 'Evelpidon', Greece; Department of Politics, University of Durham, UK. He is a fellow of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Studies of the U.S. Department of State, specializing in US Foreign Policy.

• Acknowledgement-Small States Theory and the failing process of normative analysis-Internal and External Challenges for the Years to Come-Smart instead of Small: Which are the different variables that make a state act smart?-From Oblivion to Modernity: The UAE’s smart birth-Smart Leadership: The cases of Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan & Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum-Smart States act positively in the international arena: The UAE case-Beyond Smart Power: Tolerance as a source of Smart Ontology-Internal and External Challenges for the Years to Come-Epilogue-Forward