Corgan, Michael T.

About the author: Professor Corgan is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Boston University. He is published on security affairs and is a frequent commentator for Boston and national media. He lectures in Iceland and was a Fulbright professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Iceland. A graduate of the Naval Academy, he was a career naval officer before his academic career.

Iceland and Its Alliances: Security for a Small State

2003 0-7734-6992-3
This study provides a long overdue examination of a critical sector of the international politics of one of the world’s most politically and economically advanced states. It also provides a model or basis of comparison for other small states on how they might shape their own security policies in the larger world. Among the distinctive features of this work is a discussion of the development of an indigenous vocabulary, with words based on Icelandic saga literature, by which the most complex issues of superpower security affairs could be discussed in a national debate. A key point examined is the growth of an indigenous security expertise. The creation of a parliamentary commission and its output led to a dialectic with the Foreign Ministry that produced an informed debate on security issues in a country of about only a quarter million people. This dialectic suggests a model for development of policy making expertise by other small states.