Middle powers may lack the economic and military weight to coerce others, but they can still shape outcomes through coalition-building, credibility and sustained diplomatic effort.

There is no standard definition or agreed international list of ‘middle powers’ and no lack of continuing argument about not only the concept but its operational utility and, in some cases, its acceptability. Although Australia would be on most lists, my successor as foreign minister Alexander Downer, for one, would always insist that we were not a mere ‘middle’ but a ‘pivotal’ power.

For me and most in the global policy community – and certainly the current Australian government – ‘middle power’ language does not imply mediocrity or insignificance. But what is it that distinguishes middle powers from both great powers like the United States and China and major powers like Russia, India and Japan? And at the other end of the spectrum, what distinguishes middle powers from small powers?

Focusing on objective measures of physical size does not take the definitional argument very far. Norway, Singapore and New Zealand would be on most middle power lists, but all have........

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