The Differentiation and Redefinition of Middle Powers

　　Abstract: Previous research about the middle powers has taken the logic of structural realism as its starting point. Scholars argue that the fundamental foreign policy objective of the middle powers is to maintain the stability of the international system. As the international context continues to change and as the number and type of middle powers continues to increase, the traditional conceptual framework is no longer able to adequately explain the behavior of such states and predict the likely direction of their future development. The flaw of the traditional concept of middle Powers is that it overlooks the nature of the international system as a dynamic system, and ignores the role and impact of dynamic resource flows on the system’s structure. This article attempts to reconsider middle Power from a perspective of development and resource flows, and aims to partially compensate for the deficiencies of the existing concepts and framwork. 

　　About the Author: Ma Ning is a MA Student in the Department of World Economics and Politics at Jiangsu Provincial School of Administration Institute