For small nations like Grenada, New Zealand and Norway, medal counts relative to population are increasingly touted as the most meaningful comparisons with sporting superpowers China, the United States and Germany. In acknowledging that 60% of the world's states have populations of less than 10 million and 48% of these have less than 5 million inhabitants, this book explores how the 'minnows' can build or sustain their sport programmes. Despite the immense variation among and between small states, this book suggests that scale 'matters'. The contributors, from Antigua and Barbuda, Finland, Lebanon, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden demonstrate the challenges and opportunities of governing sport in their respective countries. These works highlight the distinctive policy 'ecologies' of sport in small states, marked by the unique responses to global pressures, the domestic realities of having limited resources, and by the close-knit networks of accountability. This volume will help scholars and policy makers to better understand the significance of having fewer 'degrees of separation' and the implications this has for sport. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics.

For small nations like Grenada, New Zealand and Norway, medal counts relative to population are increasingly touted as the most meaningful comparisons with sporting superpowers China, the United States and Germany. In acknowledging that 60% of the world's states have populations of less than 10 million and 48% of these have less than 5 million inhabitants, this book explores how the 'minnows' can build or sustain their sport programmes. Despite the immense variation among and between small states, this book suggests that scale 'matters'. The contributors, from Antigua and Barbuda, Finland, Lebanon, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden demonstrate the challenges and opportunities of governing sport in their respective countries. These works highlight the distinctive policy 'ecologies' of sport in small states, marked by the unique responses to global pressures, the domestic realities of having limited resources, and by the close-knit networks of accountability. This volume will help scholars and policy makers to better understand the significance of having fewer 'degrees of separation' and the implications this has for sport. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics.

The growing influence of sport has created a unique opportunity to build international relationships for a number of purposes, including cultural, economic, shared humanitarian, and increasingly, political diplomacy. This book explores the influence and effectiveness of sport diplomacy in improving long-term relations between nations by opening a dialogue with international leaders, raising awareness of host countries and to bridging cultural differences, and in building international relationships through ambassadors that could increase trade and legislative agreements, and even bring peace to nations in conflict. Authored by talented scholars from all over the world, many of whom served as sport diplomats, their unique perspective in each case sheds light on the ways in which sport diplomacy can succeed or falter in achieving strategic objectives between influential -- and in some cases historically adversarial -- countries. A thoroughly intriguing look at sport diplomacys past and ongoing efforts to improve relations with countries such as Brazil, Russia, Iran and China, this book brings to the forefront an area in which sport has been able to open up and increase opportunities to build relationships between people, communities, governments and countries.