Ireland’s Strategic Limbo: Neutrality, Alignment, and the Logic of a Lose-Lose Posture For much of the twentieth century, Irish neutrality was not merely a diplomatic posture but a strategic identity rooted in history, geography, and political necessity. It emerged from the state’s experience of colonial subjugation, civil war, and economic fragility, and was sustained by a Cold War environment in which small states could plausibly shelter beneath ambiguity. Today, however, t