Small States’ Agency in Preserving Liberal International Order: The Case of Lithuania’s Values-Based Foreign Policy Towards the Indo-Pacific

Lithuania has experienced a significant shift in relations with the outside world since its 18th government entered the office in late 2020. Its self-proclaimed “values-based foreign policy” soon acquired a clear-cut Indo-Pacific focus that supplemented the country’s usual orientation towards Euro-Atlantic affairs. Based on G. J. Ikenberry's 2009 proposal for studying five dimensions of liberal international order, coupled with key theoretical insights from the field of small states studies, this chapter aims to critically assess Lithuania’s values-based foreign policy that should aspire to preservation of such order. The analysis specifically covered two main manifestations of this policy towards the Indo-Pacific, namely Lithuania’s review of its relationship with China and corresponding “strategic diversification” from the latter towards the rest of the region. In both cases, remarkable level of small state agency was observed.