Balance of Power in international relations

International relations

1. Balance of Power

2. The equilibrium of power among members of the family of nations as will prevent any one of them from becoming sufficiently strong to enforce its will upon the others. International security can only be achieved by creating “Balance of Power” among the powerful states. Definition

3. Kegley Hegel defines that “The core of balance of power theory is the idea that national security is enhanced when military capabilities are distributed so that no one state is strong enough to dominate all others”. Cont..

4. International System is anarchic States are principal actors. Core Assumptions

5. From 1648 (Peace of Westphalia) to 1789 (French Revolution) was a golden age of classical balance of power, when the princes of Europe began accepting BoP as the supreme principle of foreign policy . Evident use of BoP is also noted in the mid-17th cent., when it was directed against the France of Louis XIV. Balance of power was the stated British objective for much of the 18th and 19th cent., and it characterized the European international system, for example, from 1815–1914. Historical Perspective

6. After World War I, the balance of power system was attacked again. International relations were changed radically after World War II by the predominance of two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, with major ideological differences between them. cont .

7. After the 1960s, with the emergence of China and the third world, a revived Europe and Japan, it re-emerged as a component of international relations. With the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the United States, as the sole remaining superpower, has been dominant militarily and, to a lesser degree, economically. Cont.

8. Often it is a matter of balancing threat rather than power. So distance, interdependence, and ideology matters. External balancing can take place through alliances but risks dependency on others and requires placing trust on them. How Power is balanced?

9. This kind of trust and dependency was evident in NATO and Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. Internal balancing takes place by building up the capacity of the state, as occurred with the US-Soviet arms race, in which both super powers tried to balance power by becoming more powerful themselves. Cont.

10. Polarization is the process that causes neutral parties to take sides in a conflict. It also causes individuals on either side of the conflict to take increasingly extreme positions that are more and more opposed to each other . As parties move toward these opposite "poles," they define themselves in terms of their opposition to a common enemy. Degree of Polarization

11. Trust and respect diminish, and "distorted perceptions and simplified stereotypes emerge." Parties assume more rigid positions and may refuse to negotiate. The study of polarization first came to be identified with those realist writers who wrote about the structure of the international system, the impact of military alliances on war and peace, and the balance of power. Cont.

12. Nature of Polarization can be understood by; a ) Tightness of poles - all states in one camp or other? b) Discreteness of poles – degree of interaction between states on each side c) Level of animosity - degree of animosity Cont..

13. Truly uni -polar system would make major war less frequent. S ince one state can prevent others from arming for war. War is most likely during transitions in balance. Rising power gains strength, challenges previously superior state and, given newness of capabilities. W ar occurs because each side thinks it can win BOP and War

14. Polarity is in transitional stage . Creation of superpowers made it impossible to negotiate individual BoP . Increasing disparity between states has made maintaining BoP very difficult. BoP in the Modern World

15. BoP has prevented universal empires from transforming the world by conquest. It has provided peace in the absence of effective mechanisms of collective security. Need for BoP between big powers has proven particularly beneficial for secondary or smaller states. Functions of BoP

16. Power not peace is the overriding concern within the BoP imperative. War not peace provides the best means to check instability in the BoP . States are not static units as they can increase their power through armaments and also acquire power through development. It is difficult for states to switch sides, given the political, economic, socio-cultural ties.