Small states, which incur significant sovereignty costs from alignment and therefore often prefer to remain self-reliant, sometimes choose to align with a great power. Existing theories attribute this behavior to the distribution of power, the balance of threat, or the imperative of domestic regime survival. This study offers an alternative explanation, drawing on the concept of stigma in world politics. When major democratic powers stigmatize a small state for its approach to state-society relations, the strategies identified in the existing stigma literature become inaccessible: accepting the stigma would require dismantling the regime, while rejecting it and counter-stigmatizing demand international standing that small states typically lack. Each of these responses is inherently individual. The field of International Relations has adopted only part of Goffman’s theory of stigma, focusing on individual responses while neglecting affiliation, which involves seeking solidarity among similarly marked actors. This analysis introduces the concept of ideological shelter-seeking as the international analog of affiliation: a stigmatized small state seeks recognition from a similarly stigmatized great power. Access to such recognition is mediated through relationships, which are signaled by alignment and paid for with sovereignty. The case of Uzbekistan is examined across four periods between 1991 and 2012, tracing its trajectory from self-reliance under diffuse criticism, through alliance with Russia following the Andijan massacre of 2005, to a partial retreat when Western powers re-engaged without removing the stigma, a phenomenon Goffman termed phantom acceptance. The case of Hungary serves as a case illustration that demonstrates the broader applicability of this mechanism.
