Conclusion: Insecurity of their own making? A comparative policy coherence for sustainable development analysis of small-state governance

The introduction to this volume highlighted the importance of the concept of vulnerability in Small-State Studies since the re-emergence of this field of scholarship after the Second World War. Early studies focused on military vulnerability and small-state preoccupations with the maintenance of sovereignty. The evolution of global affairs led to further security concerns related to economic security, societal security, and most recently, environmental and climate security, all of which have emerged as concerns for small states. Insecurity has been intrinsically tied to concerns over the size of small states, which leaves them vulnerable—a status defined as exposure to external threats to the well-being of these countries or their populations. Historically, small states have been vulnerable to the military power of larger neighbours. More recently, existential threats such as climate change and global pandemics have drawn attention to the vulnerability that small states can experience as a result of their economic dependence on open borders and transnational markets. These concluding remarks do not aim to offer a detailed comparative analysis of small states. However, such reflections do seem to suggest some potential future directions for the field of Small-State Studies via cross-regional comparison.