Understanding the marginality constellations of small states: Serbia, Croatia, and the crisis of EU-Russia relations

Abstract

Understanding the contemporary identity-role construction of small states in South-East Europe is closely linked to the process of reshaping the relative geometry of regional influence of the EU-centre and its powerful marginal actors. This has become increasingly obvious since 2008 with the unraveling of the global economic crisis, Russia's revived influence in the region, and the crisis of EU enlargement - processes that are usually perceived as challenges to the prevalent European conception of order. This paper seeks to explore the interaction of more powerful actors from both the European center' and its 'margins' with the small states on the South-East margin, by developing the framework that builds on Noel Parker's theory of 'positive marginality' and the updated 'constellation theory' by Hans Mouritzen and Anders Wivel. Theoretically, I propose the concepts of 'marginality constellation', 'thin' and 'thick' margins, to understand how small states frame their understanding of agency in world politics more broadly. Empirically, the paper delves into Croatia's and Serbia's foreign policies from 2014 on, to illustrate how the two countries manage their foreign policy identity narratives to respond to the shifting geopolitical centre-margin discourses of the EU and Russia in light of the crisis in Ukraine.