The Microstates of Europe: Designer Nations in a Post-Modern World

by P. Christiaan Klieger

The seven microstates of Europe, i.e. Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Malta, San Marino, Sovereign Order of St. John, and Vatican City are remarkable not only for their size, but their persistence. Most have been around for centuries, while much larger empires have come and gone. Despite the great events of the last two millennia, these countries have come into existence and have managed to steer a course away from incorporation within their larger neighbors. Why is this? Rather than being an exercise in triviality, the study in The Microstates of Designer Nations in a Post-Modern World of the histories of these tiny states may provide insight into tenaciousness of national aspirations and ethnic solidarity that are everywhere evident. Modernist studies tend to view the microstates as illogical anomalies destined to disappear under the crush of social progress. However, these states are anything but marginal—in fact, they are among the richest states in the world. This book examines the phenomenon from structural history and anthropological perspectives. It is not a grand history of petite places—rather, it is an “ethnographic anthology” of a few places in Europe that should not logically exist. The Microstates of Europe is a post-modern critique of the trends of globalism, and it examines the counter-trend of increasing nationalism, particularism, and cultural relativism. Rather than being eclectic exceptions, the microstates may demonstrate the survival of extremely long enduring mechanisms of collective boundary maintenance that are most likely present in many communities throughout the world.

Genres: Nonfiction

242 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Portal in the Pages · Rating 2 out of 5]

And finished San Marino

[Markel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The odds have always seemed, at least, to be stacked against the microstates, with little fishes (sic.) being eaten by larger fishes (sic.). But even the greatest empires fall".

Pretty much all you need to know about European microstates. Some chapters are just a neverending list of names, titles, dates and battles. Others are very much entertaining, although never falling into the realm of anecdotes. While not a historian myself, there are a few facts to be double-check in this book, such as the statement that the Vatican City is a Member State of the European Union (never!). There is a clear fixation of the author with SMOM, as 25% of the book is dedicated to the chapter covering this unique state with a (reallly real) territory and most parallelism between microstates are drawn against the SMOM most often. It is also never explained why Luxembourg is not included as a microstate; perhaps it did not fall neatly into the arguments of ethnohistory and statehood-building advanced by the author. I also appreciated the chapter about micronations as officially unrecognised microstates; it did help understand the singularity of microstates in Europe and reinforce my wish to visit them all (only 1/6 so far)!

[Rhonda Hankins]

Each of the seven microstates of Europe gets a chapter in this 242-page book so many paragraphs aren't much more than a rambling list of people, places, conflicts, dates, and treaties. Despite the attempt to cram centuries of history on each country into one chapter of a book, there are interesting tidbits that I noted at https://mindtraveling.wordpress.com/