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The confusion of thought in which the modern world likes to dwell is nowhere greater than in those things which come within the survey of the peace movement. Even its most enthusiastic supporters are unable to show that their efforts have tended to make wars less frequent than heretofore. Neither can they prove that any nation has yet submitted a single question to arbitration over which it would have gone to war if the Hague Tribunal had not existed. They must honestly acknowledge that wars occur less often now than in the past, partly because a great number of questions, as, for example, those of nationality and of colonization, which formerly led to war have now, to a great extent, been solved, and partly because the civilized nations have reached such a stage in their development that they no longer are inclined to draw the sword for the comparatively unimportant objects for which they were unsheathed at a time when the death and ruin of thousands meant little to the government.

Aus sowjetischer Sicht

Challenging conventional wisdom that powerful states do as they will and small states do as they must, this article advances an analysis of small states and the role they can play as agents of change in the area of peace and security. Insights from constructivist research on foreign policy contribute to explain why some small states adopt norm entrepreneurship as a diplomatic strategy and how such strategy helps small states punch above their weight in international relations. The article is based on an in-depth case study of Sweden as a norm entrepreneur promoting the norm pertaining to the prevention of violent conflicts in the EU and UN, and it assesses the impact of the following strategies used by such a norm entrepreneur: norm construction, agenda-shaping, coalition-building, and support of institutionalisation. Adapted from the source document.