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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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233 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 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."
February 5, 2026
📕 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 (2024) by 𝗔𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 started with disappointment. As someone who grew up in a small country, I know our main achievements well, and attributing Skype to Sweden, when it is common knowledge that its engineering core was 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗻, feels too sloppy for the author and frankly unforgivable for the editors.
The author strongly criticises the certainty of the Soviet system and suggests that “𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆.” This is a 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. In Western systems, uncertainty often means freedom because institutions absorb risk. In the Soviet context, uncertainty often meant vulnerability, while certainty meant stability and survival. Applying one value framework to both systems is not analysis, it is 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
To be clear, this is not an argument in favour of the Soviet system, but a reminder that 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘀 cannot be evaluated through a single ideological lens.
At the same time, the author criticises the Soviet Union while benefiting from a system that gave him a strong start to his career. He rather simplistically suggests that 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 offered more opportunities, as if unaware of how uneven access to education historically was within the British system itself. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘀𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: he notes that at independence the country had only 22 university graduates and around 1’000 school graduates, yet offers little reflection on the UK’s role in shaping such limited opportunities in the first place. In the Armenian case, questions of 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 and 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 are approached differently, and the comparison feels incomplete.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹:
The central idea of a 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 is genuinely compelling. The book rightly challenges the assumption that 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 and highlights how 𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗱𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗰𝘆, 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 can compensate for limited resources. The comparative ambition of bringing together cases as diverse as Singapore, Estonia, Botswana and Armenia is valuable, and the book succeeds in opening an important conversation about how smaller states can think about their place in a fragmented world.
The author strongly criticises the certainty of the Soviet system and suggests that “𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆.” This is a 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. In Western systems, uncertainty often means freedom because institutions absorb risk. In the Soviet context, uncertainty often meant vulnerability, while certainty meant stability and survival. Applying one value framework to both systems is not analysis, it is 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
To be clear, this is not an argument in favour of the Soviet system, but a reminder that 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘀 cannot be evaluated through a single ideological lens.
At the same time, the author criticises the Soviet Union while benefiting from a system that gave him a strong start to his career. He rather simplistically suggests that 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 offered more opportunities, as if unaware of how uneven access to education historically was within the British system itself. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘀𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: he notes that at independence the country had only 22 university graduates and around 1’000 school graduates, yet offers little reflection on the UK’s role in shaping such limited opportunities in the first place. In the Armenian case, questions of 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 and 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 are approached differently, and the comparison feels incomplete.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹:
The central idea of a 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 is genuinely compelling. The book rightly challenges the assumption that 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 and highlights how 𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗱𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗰𝘆, 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 can compensate for limited resources. The comparative ambition of bringing together cases as diverse as Singapore, Estonia, Botswana and Armenia is valuable, and the book succeeds in opening an important conversation about how smaller states can think about their place in a fragmented world.
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.
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