Using a theoretical approach that takes into consideration the options available to small states in international relations as well as those factors that influence foreign policy decision making, this article tests the usefulness of the approach on a specific case study, the so-called Mosul crisis in northern Iraq in 1924-1925. From the perspective of the alternatives opened to small states in the international arena in the aftermath of World War I and on the basis of Sweden’s stated foreign policy doctrine, Sweden’s actions in the Mosul crisis were understandable and consistent with the basic premises of the suggested theoretical approach.