Ontological Security and Status-Seeking: Thailand's Proactive Behaviours during the Second World War

How and why was it possible for a small state such as Thailand to challenge great powers France and Japan during the Second World War?

Putting ontological security theory into dialogue with status seeking approaches, Charoenvattananukul uses a case study of Thailand in the early 1940s to interrogate the dynamics and logic of a small state foreign policy. During this period, Thailand’s foreign policy can appear to be surprising, if viewed through a lens of survival imperatives which would ass...