Introduction

Abstract

Structural Realism assumes weak powers to bandwagon: to tag along with great powers to survive. However, this is not always the case, as these states tend to exercise unexpected relative autonomy that defies existing literature. For instance, St. Kitts and Nevis engages with Castro’s Cuba, Libya under Gaddafi and Venezuela, while simultaneously maintaining the United States as its major trading partner. Likewise, Armenia engages in complex relationships with both the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is not bandwagoning. These states—Armenia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and many other states for that matter—are both weak and, therefore, vulnerable, albeit on different levels. Yet, they manage to have open, opportunistic, and multifaceted relationships with diverse and opposing third-party powers for nonthreatening development seeking purposes.