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  <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">67</journal-id>
  <journal-id journal-id-type="short-title">gfpr</journal-id>
  <journal-id journal-id-type="doi">10.31703/gfpr</journal-id>
  <journal-title-group>
    <journal-title>Global Foreign Policies Review</journal-title>
    <abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">gfpr</abbrev-journal-title>
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  <issn publication-format="print">2788-502X</issn>
  <issn publication-format="electronic">2788-5038</issn>
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  <publisher>
    <publisher-name>Humanity Publications</publisher-name>
    <publisher-loc>Pakistan</publisher-loc>
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  <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">395887</article-id>
  <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.31703/gfpr.2025(VIII-IV).04</article-id>
  <article-id pub-id-type="other" specific-use="submission-id">6354</article-id>
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    <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
      <subject>article</subject>
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  <title-group>
    <article-title xml:lang="en">International Law as A Strategic Resource for Nordic Small States: Do Arctic Governance Frameworks Compensate for Limited Power?</article-title>
  </title-group>
<contrib-group>
  <contrib contrib-type="author" seq="1" corresp="yes">
    <name>
      <surname>Nawaz</surname>
      <given-names>Ahmad</given-names>
    </name>
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    <role vocab="credit" vocab-identifier="https://credit.niso.org/" vocab-term="Writing – original draft" vocab-term-identifier="https://credit.niso.org/contributor-roles/writing-original-draft/">Writing – original draft</role>
    <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"/>
    <xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1"/>
  </contrib>
  <aff id="aff1">
    <label>1</label>
    <institution-wrap>
      <institution>Bachelors in Laws (LLB), University of Peshawar</institution>
    </institution-wrap>
    <addr-line>KP</addr-line>
    <country>Pakistan</country>
  </aff>
</contrib-group>
<author-notes>
  <corresp id="cor1">Corresponding Author: Ahmad Nawaz, Bachelors in Laws (LLB), University of Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.</corresp>
<fn fn-type="COI-statement" id="fn-coi">
  <p>The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.</p>
</fn>
<fn fn-type="ethics-statement" id="fn-ethics">
  <p>This study did not require formal ethics approval.</p>
</fn>
<fn fn-type="data-availability-statement" id="fn-data">
  <p>Data sharing is not applicable to this article.</p>
</fn>
</author-notes>
<pub-date pub-type="epub" date-type="pub" publication-format="electronic">
  <day>31</day>
  <month>12</month>
  <year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="collection">
  <month>12</month>
  <year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date date-type="pub" publication-format="print">
  <day>04</day>
  <month>12</month>
  <year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
  <volume>8</volume>
  <issue>4</issue>
  <season>Fall</season>
  <fpage>28</fpage>
  <lpage>37</lpage>
  <history>
    <date date-type="accepted">
      <day>04</day>
      <month>12</month>
      <year>2025</year>
    </date>
  </history>
<funding-group>
  <funding-statement>
<p>The authors received no specific funding for this work.</p>
  </funding-statement>
</funding-group>
<permissions>
  <copyright-year>2025</copyright-year>
  <copyright-holder>Humanity Publications</copyright-holder>
  <license license-type="open-access" xml:lang="en" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
    <license-p>This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.</license-p>
  </license>
</permissions>
<self-uri content-type="text/html" xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com/article/international-law-as-a-strategic-resource-for-nordic-small-states-do-arctic-governance-frameworks-compensate-for-limited-power"/>
<self-uri content-type="pdf" xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com/pdf/gfpr/8XOBXp0FaZ.pdf"/>
<supplementary-material id="suppl-pdf" content-type="pdf" xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com/pdf/gfpr/8XOBXp0FaZ.pdf">
  <label>PDF</label>
  <caption>
    <title>Full Text PDF</title>
  </caption>
</supplementary-material>
  <abstract>
    <p>The report focuses on the extent to which the Arctic systems of governance have enabled the Nordic small states, that is, Iceland, Finland, and Norway, to balance their merger material power by strategically exploiting the international law. The analysis has been done on the basis of the Small State Theory and is supplemented by Institutional Liberalism and legal institutionalism based on a qualitative comparative case study. The results demonstrate that the international law and the institutional frames connected with it are indeed considered as a relevant strategic resource that enables these states to augment their influence by means of legal expertise, agenda-setting, and norm entrepreneurship.  It is concluded in the report that although Arctic governance offers a singularly predisposed surrounding to the impact of the small states, law is a facilitative mechanism instead of an equalizing one, with its effectiveness determined by the matter area and the political geography.</p>
  </abstract>
<kwd-group kwd-group-type="author-keywords">
  <kwd>International Law</kwd>
  <kwd>Arctic Governance</kwd>
  <kwd>Small State Theory</kwd>
  <kwd>Institutional Liberalism</kwd>
  <kwd>legal institutionalism</kwd>
  <kwd>Small States.</kwd>
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<body>
  <sec id="sec-intro">
    <title>Content</title>
    <p>The report focuses on the extent to which the Arctic systems of governance have enabled the Nordic small states, that is, Iceland, Finland, and Norway, to balance their merger material power by strategically exploiting the international law. The analysis has been done on the basis of the Small State Theory and is supplemented by Institutional Liberalism and legal institutionalism based on a qualitative comparative case study. The results demonstrate that the international law and the institutional frames connected with it are indeed considered as a relevant strategic resource that enables these states to augment their influence by means of legal expertise, agenda-setting, and norm entrepreneurship.  It is concluded in the report that although Arctic governance offers a singularly predisposed surrounding to the impact of the small states, law is a facilitative mechanism instead of an equalizing one, with its effectiveness determined by the matter area and the political geography.</p>
  </sec>
</body>
<back>
<fn-group content-type="conflict-of-interest">
  <title>Conflict of Interest</title>
  <fn fn-type="conflict">
<p>The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.</p>
  </fn>
</fn-group>
<fn-group content-type="ethics-statement">
  <title>Ethics Statement</title>
  <fn fn-type="ethics">
<p>This study did not require formal ethics approval.</p>
  </fn>
</fn-group>
<fn-group content-type="data-availability">
  <title>Data Availability</title>
  <fn fn-type="data-availability-statement">
<p>Data sharing is not applicable to this article.</p>
  </fn>
</fn-group>
<app-group>
  <app id="app-suppl">
    <title>Supplementary Materials</title>
<supplementary-material id="suppl-pdf" content-type="pdf" xlink:href="https://gfprjournal.com/pdf/gfpr/8XOBXp0FaZ.pdf">
  <label>PDF</label>
  <caption>
    <title>Full Text PDF</title>
  </caption>
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