There are a plethora of studies on South Korea as a middle power. Some argue Korea needs to change to fit the term, some reinvent the term to fit Korea, and still others just use the term without questioning.
The academic discipline of international relations desperately needs new ways of talking about the 10-60 states - the middle powers.
The middle power term will still be used because it’s an easy label to throw about for politicians and journalists but academics should be held to a higher standard.
The middle-power moment may well have been an illusion, but middle powers will continue to play an important albeit different role in international relations.
Academic research on the nature and criteria for definition in the social sciences and the failure to define the middle power.
