Editing Middle power (section)

===Middle power diplomacy===
According to Laura Neak of the [[International Studies Association]]:
<blockquote>Although there is some conceptual ambiguity surrounding the term middle power, middle powers are identified most often by their international behavior–called 'middle power diplomacy'—the tendency to pursue multilateral solutions to international problems, the tendency to embrace compromise positions in international disputes, and the tendency to embrace notions of 'good international citizenship' to guide...diplomacy. Middle powers are states who commit their relative affluence, managerial skills, and international prestige to the preservation of the international order and peace. Middle powers help to maintain the international order through coalition-building, by serving as mediators and "go-betweens," and through international conflict management and resolution activities, such as UN peacekeeping. Middle powers perform these internationalist activities because of an idealistic imperative they associate with being a middle power. The imperative is that the middle powers have a moral responsibility and collective ability to protect the international order from those who would threaten it, including, at times, the great or principal powers. This imperative was particularly profound during the most intense periods of the Cold War.<ref name="Bishai">Bishai LS (2000) [http://www.ciaonet.org/isa/nal01/ From Recognition to Intervention: The Shift from Traditional to Liberal International Law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020228031316/http://www.ciaonet.org/isa/nal01/|date=28 February 2002|df=y }}</ref></blockquote>

According to international relations scholar [[Annette Baker Fox]], relationships between middle powers and great powers reveal more intricate behaviors and bargaining schemes than has often been assumed.<ref>[[Annette Baker Fox|Fox, Annette Baker]], ''The Politics of Attraction: Four Middle Powers and the United States'' (Columbia University Press, 1977).</ref> According to Soeya Yoshihide, "Middle Power does not just mean a state's size or military or economic power. Rather, 'middle power diplomacy' is defined by the issue area where a state invests its resources and knowledge. The Middle Power States avoid a direct confrontation with great powers, but they see themselves as 'moral actors' and seek their own role in particular issue areas, such as human rights, environment, and arms regulations. Middle powers are the driving force in the process of transnational institutional-building."<ref name="Yoshihide">{{cite web|last=Yoshihide|first=Soeya|title=Middle Power Diplomacy|url=http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/tiberg/Poli%20322-2006-Middle%20Power%20Diplomacy.rtf|access-date=18 May 2007}}{{dead link|date=August 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> At the same time, scholars have identified relations of antagonism and competition between middle powers, as well as their ability to use [[soft power]] to attain their goals, as in the case of [[Egypt]]-[[Israel]]i rivalry in [[Africa]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Siniver |first1=Asaf |last2=Tsourapas |first2=Gerasimos |date=2023 |title=Middle Powers and Soft-Power Rivalry: Egyptian–Israeli Competition in Africa |journal=Foreign Policy Analysis |volume=19 |issue=2 |doi=10.1093/fpa/orac041 |issn=1743-8586|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Characteristics of middle power diplomacy include:<ref name="Yoshihide"/>

*Commitment to [[multilateralism]] through global institutions and allying with other middle powers.<ref name="JamesKasoff2008">{{cite book|author1=Patrick James|author2=Mark J. Kasoff|title=Canadian studies in the new millennium|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_LHcv89nW4C&pg=PA265|year=2008|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-9468-1|page=265|access-date=24 February 2016}}</ref>
*High degree of [[civil society]] penetration in the country's foreign policy.
*A country that reflects and forms its national identity through a 'novel foreign policy': [[Peacekeeping]], [[Human security|Human Security]], the [[International Criminal Court]], and the [[Kyoto Protocol]]

The [[Middle Powers Initiative]] highlights the importance of middle powers diplomacy. Through MPI, eight international non-governmental organizations are able to work primarily with middle power governments to encourage and educate the nuclear weapons states to take immediate practical steps that reduce nuclear dangers, and commence negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons. Middle power countries are particularly influential in issues related to arms control, being that they are politically and economically significant, internationally respected countries that have renounced the [[nuclear arms race]], a standing that gives them significant political credibility.