THE STRATEGY OF SMALL STATES IN GREAT POWER RIVALRY: LESSONS FROM “FINLANDIZATION” FOR THE MULTIPOLAR ERA OF 2026

Annotatsiya

This article examines how small countries can survive today’s intense geopolitical rivalry between superpowers like the US, China and Russia. It revisits the Cold War concept of “Finlandization”, when Finland stayed independent by keeping its foreign policy neutral and agreeable to its giant neighbor, the Soviet Union. While critics often viewed that this is a weak capitulation, but it was actually a smart, realistic strategy for survival. Updating this idea for 2026, the paper introduces “Neo-Finlandization”. It maps out a modern playbook for small states in tense regions, showing how they can use economic hedging, clever diplomacy and tech partnership to protect their independence without provoking big-power anger.