Vallelonga and Tubilewicz challenge rationalist approaches that define middle powers based on material capabilities, diplomatic behaviour, or systemic influence, arguing instead that middle powers are socially constructed through interactions within states and across the international system.
Developing a constructivist framework centred on identity, agency and power, the book demonstrates how middle-power identity, and the interests, norms and diplomatic practices associated with it, emerge through domestic and international contestation. Using Australia as a case study, it traces the transformation of Australian middle power from multilateral coalition-building in ‘low politics’ issues, such as trade liberalization, to an increasingly securitized conception shaped by strategic competition with China and growing uncertainty surrounding US leadership.
Combining a new theoretical framework with in-depth empirical analysis, the book will be an essential resource for students and scholars of middle powers, International Relations, constructivism, Foreign Policy Analysis, diplomatic studies, security studies, Australian foreign policy, Australia–China relations and Indo-Pacific politics.