In international politics, small states face specific challenges stemming from their limited capacities and structural vulnerabilities. To address these challenges, small states seek external protection, in the form of political, economic and social shelter. This master’s thesis applies shelter theory to examine which factors small states consider when assessing the costs and benefits of shelter, what internal efforts they undertake, and how they seek balance between internal efforts and shelter provider. The aim is to test the applicability and explanatory scope of shelter theory in non-Western European countries. The thesis' methodology is based on a comparative analysis of a case study of the foreign policies of Slovenia and Kyrgyzstan. The study is based on a qualitative content analysis of primary and secondary sources and on a theoretical model of analysis of three types of shelter: political, economic and social. The results show that shelter theory can be successfully applied to the foreign policy analysis of non-Western European small states. The thesis identifies five key factors that influence the assessment of the costs and benefits of shelter: the degree of institutionalisation of shelter, regional stability, the availability of shelter providers, the internal capacities and political will of the small state, and the consistency of the small state's identity with that of the shelter provider. At the same time, I note that both countries are pursuing strategies to strike a balance between internal efforts and the shelter provider. However, the above factors also lead to two key differences between the two small states in their shelter-seeking: in how shelter is assessed in terms of reliability and commitment, and in the strategic stance of the small states within the shelter by acting proactively or reactively.
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