Repositioning middle powers in international hierarchies of status and order

This article develops a framework for theorising middle power identity formation. It contends that middle power identity formation has frequently been driven by both the pursuit of elevated positions within hierarchies of status, and by the construction, (re)organisation and navigation of hierarchies of order. The role of three essential concepts driving middle power identity formation are highlighted: middle power identity entrepreneurs, middle power identity narratives and periods of middle power identity ignition. Through application to the case of South Korea, it finds that structural change and elite activism combined to form a new middle power identity from 1987 to 2013. This identity change was driven by attempts to reposition the country in international society’s status community; while simultaneously renegotiating the terms of the country’s subordination to the US and attempting to initiate superordinate roles over North Korea and Southeast Asia.