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The Small States Club: How Small Smart States Can Save the World
In this book, Armen Sarkissian, former president of Armenia, argues that small states can navigate the complex challenges of the twenty-first century in smarter ways than 'greater' powers. For smallness-often regarded as a weakness-can be a strength. It may induce insecurity in states, but also endows them with an instinct for survival. Large states are ponderous; small states can be agile and adaptive.
Drawing on his deep experience as a scientist, businessman, diplomat and head of state, Sarkissian offers captivating portraits of small states, from Africa to Europe to Asia, that have overcome seemingly insuperable odds to establish themselves as oases of political stability, cultural tolerance, technological innovation, financial prudence and scientific research. Sarkissian returns to the uncertain beginnings of these small states to demystify their improbable rise. Along the way, he introduces us to a cast of tenacious leaders with a knack for converting crisis into opportunity.
Widely regarded as the most respected Armenian leader on the world stage, Sarkissian ends with a poignant homage to his motherland. Part memoir, part manifesto, it is a stirring insight into the world's oldest Christian country, which is at once an ancient civilization, a small state and a global nation.
Drawing on his deep experience as a scientist, businessman, diplomat and head of state, Sarkissian offers captivating portraits of small states, from Africa to Europe to Asia, that have overcome seemingly insuperable odds to establish themselves as oases of political stability, cultural tolerance, technological innovation, financial prudence and scientific research. Sarkissian returns to the uncertain beginnings of these small states to demystify their improbable rise. Along the way, he introduces us to a cast of tenacious leaders with a knack for converting crisis into opportunity.
Widely regarded as the most respected Armenian leader on the world stage, Sarkissian ends with a poignant homage to his motherland. Part memoir, part manifesto, it is a stirring insight into the world's oldest Christian country, which is at once an ancient civilization, a small state and a global nation.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
272 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2024
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224 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 25, 2025
I am finally writing a review for this amazing book nearly two months after reading it.
Armen Sarkissian's words have lived in my head from the moment I finished reading this book. For such a short and concise read it was filled with quotations and amazing insights about diplomacy and geopolitics. It was also surprisingly filled with so much of Sarkissian's own life experiences, which added to the color and personal perspective of the topics he was covering. My worldview has been completely changed through this book. I will warn that the book is full of technical information about the interworking of various governments and historical events. Therefore, parts of the text might become dry or boring to those uninterested in these subjects. However, if you can push through those parts, I believe that everyone can benefit from reading this book and getting a more nuanced understanding of the modern world.
Some of my favorite quotations:
"To claim that I felt Soviet, on the other hand, would amount, in my own head and heart, to a craven repudiation of my parents’ sacrifice and my patrimony— one of the oldest civilisations in the world whose existence, after interminable attempts to snuff it out, seemed to me like nothing less than a miracle."
"Mrs Thatcher, perhaps sensing my predicament, did not press me further at the time. But she told me years later that she understood what I had felt: that Soviet identity was irreconcilable with the pre-communist identities of its “republics” because the survival of the former was predicated on stifling the latter."
"For the duration of its existence, the Soviet Union had seemed to its inhabitants an immortal leviathan."
"...the equality Moscow praised in theory was put into practice at Cambridge."
"Even as they rejoiced in their freedom, Armenians,with their inimitable gift for gallows humour, asked if they were not hurtling from the Space Age to the Stone Age."
"To say that each of us had a patriotic obligation to serve our newly reincarnated nation is not to peddle a platitude: it is to state a plain fact."
"I relate this story at the outset to emphasise that I write this book from a unique vantage point: that of someone who was born and raised in a seemingly indestructible superpower and went on to help steer the course of an apparently untenable small state."
"As an Armenian, I am always alert to the hazards of over-dependence on the goodwill of others."
"It is sobering to remember that the most consequential and wasteful post-9/11 military campaigns that plunged substantial segments of the world into chaos and carnage were waged by large powers with the imprimatur or acquiescence of international organisations."
"Large states desire dominance. Small states seek stability."
"By defying dogma and embracing a results oriented approach, Singapore’s leadership demonstrated its clear commitment to achieving tangible outcomes for its people."
"Nouneh and I, as the First Couple of Armenia, were symbolically undoing a wrong inflicted upon Armenia by the Soviet Union by renewing our vows in the church."
"Ireland’s most potent resource remains its diaspora in the US."
"The personal story became, in my mind, a parable of the national saga."
"'If you keep this up,' Wolfensohn said, 'Armenia will become a Disneyland at best for your diaspora, nothing more.' It was difficult to disagree."
Armen Sarkissian's words have lived in my head from the moment I finished reading this book. For such a short and concise read it was filled with quotations and amazing insights about diplomacy and geopolitics. It was also surprisingly filled with so much of Sarkissian's own life experiences, which added to the color and personal perspective of the topics he was covering. My worldview has been completely changed through this book. I will warn that the book is full of technical information about the interworking of various governments and historical events. Therefore, parts of the text might become dry or boring to those uninterested in these subjects. However, if you can push through those parts, I believe that everyone can benefit from reading this book and getting a more nuanced understanding of the modern world.
Some of my favorite quotations:
"To claim that I felt Soviet, on the other hand, would amount, in my own head and heart, to a craven repudiation of my parents’ sacrifice and my patrimony— one of the oldest civilisations in the world whose existence, after interminable attempts to snuff it out, seemed to me like nothing less than a miracle."
"Mrs Thatcher, perhaps sensing my predicament, did not press me further at the time. But she told me years later that she understood what I had felt: that Soviet identity was irreconcilable with the pre-communist identities of its “republics” because the survival of the former was predicated on stifling the latter."
"For the duration of its existence, the Soviet Union had seemed to its inhabitants an immortal leviathan."
"...the equality Moscow praised in theory was put into practice at Cambridge."
"Even as they rejoiced in their freedom, Armenians,with their inimitable gift for gallows humour, asked if they were not hurtling from the Space Age to the Stone Age."
"To say that each of us had a patriotic obligation to serve our newly reincarnated nation is not to peddle a platitude: it is to state a plain fact."
"I relate this story at the outset to emphasise that I write this book from a unique vantage point: that of someone who was born and raised in a seemingly indestructible superpower and went on to help steer the course of an apparently untenable small state."
"As an Armenian, I am always alert to the hazards of over-dependence on the goodwill of others."
"It is sobering to remember that the most consequential and wasteful post-9/11 military campaigns that plunged substantial segments of the world into chaos and carnage were waged by large powers with the imprimatur or acquiescence of international organisations."
"Large states desire dominance. Small states seek stability."
"By defying dogma and embracing a results oriented approach, Singapore’s leadership demonstrated its clear commitment to achieving tangible outcomes for its people."
"Nouneh and I, as the First Couple of Armenia, were symbolically undoing a wrong inflicted upon Armenia by the Soviet Union by renewing our vows in the church."
"Ireland’s most potent resource remains its diaspora in the US."
"The personal story became, in my mind, a parable of the national saga."
"'If you keep this up,' Wolfensohn said, 'Armenia will become a Disneyland at best for your diaspora, nothing more.' It was difficult to disagree."
January 10, 2026
A brief take on how ten small states have flourished. Sarkissian draws on his personal experience in, and interactions with the leaders of, these countries. This was part autobiographical and I felt some of the data was a bit cherry-picked but a worthwhile read.
January 19, 2025
A thoughtful survey on why these 10 countries including Singapore, Ireland, Israel, UAE and Qatar have succeeded against the odds. Adopts a textbook approach towards each country's history and enlivened with author's personal impressions of the leaders he met in his time in public service. Although he bemoans his homeland being a disappointment compared to the 10 examples he has raised.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews