<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Bachelor essay in political science by Hanna Richter, spring 2006</p><p>Supervisor: Mats Lindberg</p><p>Title: A study of the phenomenon of micronations</p><p>The purpose of this essay is to study the phenomenon of “micronations”, to describe it to the reader and to discuss why this phenomenon is interesting to study in the field of political science. The questions this essay seeks to answer are:</p><p>- What are micronations, and which variations are to be found within the phenomenon?</p><p>- Why are micronations interesting to study in the field of political science?</p><p>Bary Buzans theory of the nature of the state works as a frame of reference to this investigation of micro “state-like” units. The phenomenon of micronations has not been investigated by the social sciences in any extent worth mentioning yet. This makes the research process some what complicated. Despite the fact that micronations is a phenomenon encompassing hundreds of individual units, this essay have studied the phenomenon merely in a qualitative way, due to problems related to the lack of earlier research and time. This study shows that micronations is a complex phenomenon with only a few things working as common traits. The first trait is the fact that all of these units called mikronations in one way or another seeks some kind of sovereignty and self determination. The second is that micronations seem to be a western phenomenon. This study also shows that micronations in various ways question the concept of the “state”. This makes it a political phenomenon worth investigating. The essay suggests different fields of interests that might benefit from the study of micronations. Some of these are: the study of international relations, international law, theory of democracy and the study of constitutions.</p>

La politique étrangère de l’émirat du Qatar a suscité beaucoup d’interrogations depuis la prise de pouvoir du cheikh Hamad ben Khalifa Al Thani le 27 juin 1995. Omniprésentes depuis quelques années dans le débat public français notamment, les approches peinent cependant à formuler un cadre théorique général sous lequel appréhender la diplomatie de cet émirat. De ce constat naît une question simple : de quoi la politique étrangère du Qatar est-elle le nom ? Loin des clichés réducteurs où elle demeure le rêve d’un émir orgueilleux du Golfe, la diplomatie qatarie s’inscrit dans le contexte d’une politique étrangère d’un micro-État, d’inspiration réaliste, qui tente de conjurer un rapport de force défavorable en usant des caractéristiques du micro-étatisme et des transformations de l’environnement global afin d’optimiser ses ressources et surtout, d’instaurer un autre rapport de force. / Ever since the sheik Hamad ben Khalifa Al Thani seized power on June 27th, 1995, Qatar's foreign policy has sparked a lot of questionning. Although Qatar's policies have been commented extensively, especially in the french public debate, the various approaches on this matter have failed to formulate a general theoretical framework through which Qatar's diplomacy could be apprehended. A simple question arises from this observation : what truly lies behind Qatar's foreign policy ? Far from the carricatures depicting it as the grand dream of a vainglorious emir from the Gulf, we intend to show that Qatar's diplomacy can only be understood in the larger context of a realistic micro-state foreign policy that aims at warding off an unfavorable balance of power by using both the characteristics of micro-statism and changes in the global environment, in order to optimize its resources and ultimately, establish a different balance of power.

ABSTRACT Bachelor essay in political science by Hanna Richter, spring 2006 Supervisor: Mats Lindberg Title: A study of the phenomenon of micronations The purpose of this essay is to study the phenomenon of “micronations”, to describe it to the reader and to discuss why this phenomenon is interesting to study in the field of political science. The questions this essay seeks to answer are: - What are micronations, and which variations are to be found within the phenomenon? - Why are micronations interesting to study in the field of political science? Bary Buzans theory of the nature of the state works as a frame of reference to this investigation of micro “state-like” units. The phenomenon of micronations has not been investigated by the social sciences in any extent worth mentioning yet. This makes the research process some what complicated. Despite the fact that micronations is a phenomenon encompassing hundreds of individual units, this essay have studied the phenomenon merely in a qualitative way, due to problems related to the lack of earlier research and time. This study shows that micronations is a complex phenomenon with only a few things working as common traits. The first trait is the fact that all of these units called mikronations in one way or another seeks some kind of sovereignty and self determination. The second is that micronations seem to be a western phenomenon. This study also shows that micronations in various ways question the concept of the “state”. This makes it a political phenomenon worth investigating. The essay suggests different fields of interests that might benefit from the study of micronations. Some of these are: the study of international relations, international law, theory of democracy and the study of constitutions.