Microstates in the Contemporary International System: Implications for the United States.

This memorandum focuses upon the impact of the microstates on the regional and global balance of power from the perspective of the national security interests of the United States. The authors view the basic geostrategic problem facing the United States with regard to the microstates as one of denying the Soviet Union not only significant military influence in these small, vulnerable states, but also precluding substantial Communist political and economic penetration. They conclude that the microstates, the smallest, most neglected states in the world, may prove to be the agents for change in the balance of power equation. Author