Sovereignty of Maritime Microstates: Maintaining an International Presence in a Changing Context

Abstract

Typically, coastal or island states, maritime microstates are sover- 5 eign countries with a land territory covering less than 1,000 km2 and a direct access to the sea. While accounting for less than 0.01% of the Earth’s total land area, the combined exclusive economical zones (EEZ) of maritime microstates represent a tenth of the United Nations’ EEZ and more than any single 10 other country. With economical and geopolitical tensions on the one hand and climate change on the other hand, seas have become under the focus of more and more countries and regional powers. However, with their limited population, microstates cannot ensure a level ofmilitary presence on the seas comparable 15 to regular, larger states. Therefore, the globalized tensions over the seas represent as many potential threats for microstates sovereignty. This paper will explore the challenges related to maritime microstates sovereignty and will analyze how maritime microstates canmaintain an international presence in a changing 20 international context from three imbricated perspectives: the diplomacy perspective, the limited workforce perspective, and the intelligence perspective.

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