Entrepreneurial states versus middle powers: Distinct or intertwined frameworks?

This article highlights both the differences and similarities between the concepts of entrepreneurial states and middle powers. The use of the entrepreneurial state as the central framing device is distinctive in a number of ways, including reducing the emphasis on hierarchy in the global system. Yet for all the divergences, the two frames are indelibly intertwined, above all in privileging agency over structural positioning. In either case there is an element of constant flux and reinvention, which justifies ongoing research. Just when the elevation of the G20 and the appearance of MIKTA appeared to provide some discipline to the image of a middle power, the notion of entrepreneurial states stretches the number of countries to be included. At the same time, however, attributes that reflect some middle power sensibility are embedded within the entrepreneurial state set of practices