The concepts and theories of small state studies, a sub-discipline of international relations, have been connected to Western political development, making their applicability in regions outside of Europe questionable. Using the framework of the English School, the present article aims at identifying the main elements of small state theory which are needed to be altered to make it suitable for the Middle East and North Africa. Investigating the regional manifestation of main primary institutions which form the basis of the analysis of small states (namely statehood, sovereignty, conflict and cooperation), the research concludes that the leverage of Middle Eastern small states is highly different than it is expected by traditional small state studies, especially due to the regional norms related to statehood and conflict. Consequently, changing our conceptual framework of “small states” to “small regimes” would be also necessary to better interpret how such entities behave in the Middle East or other regions of the world.

作为国际关系的一个分支学科，小国研究的概念和理论与西方政治发展联系在一起，使其在欧洲以外地区的适用性受到质疑。本文利用英国学派的框架，旨在确定小国理论的主要要素，这些要素需要加以改变，以使其适用于中东和北非。通过调查构成小国分析基础的主要主要制度（即国家地位、主权、冲突和合作）的区域表现，研究得出结论，中东小国的影响力与传统小国的预期差异很大国家研究，特别是由于与国家地位和冲突有关的区域规范。最后，