The United States, Sweden, and the military intervention in Libya: explaining the similar foreign policy responses of a great power and a small state

Whether there are differences between the drivers of great power foreign policy and the drivers of small state foreign policy has been the subject of debate for many years. This article contributes to this debate, by showing that the foreign policies of one great power, the United States, and one small state, Sweden, regarding the humanitarian military intervention in Libya in 2011 can be explained by the same combination of factors. Although key decision-makers in both states formulated their preferences on the basis of similar circumstances, the United States, as a great power, could shape these circumstances to a greater extent and was less constrained by the situation, compared to Sweden.