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Balance of Power
I
INTRODUCTION
Balance of Power, theory and policy of international relations that asserts that the most effective
check on the power of a state is the power of other states. In international relations, the term state
refers to a country with a government and a population. The term balance of power refers to the
distribution of power capabilities of rival states or alliances. For example, the United States and the
Soviet Union maintained equivalent arsenals of nuclear weapons in the 1970s and 1980s, which
helped sustain a military balance of power.
The balance of power theory maintains that when one state or alliance increases its power or applies it
more aggressively, threatened states will increase their own power in response, often by forming a
counter-balancing coalition. For example, the rise of German power before and during World War I
(1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) triggered the formation of an anti-German coalition,
consisting of the Soviet Union, Britain, France, the United States, and other countries.
II
SIGNIFICANCE TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
As a policy, balance of power suggests that states counter any threat to their security by allying with
other threatened states and by increasing their own military capabilities. The policy of forming a
geographically based coalition of states to surround and block an expansionist power is known as
containment. For example, the United States followed a containment policy towards the Soviet Union
after World War II by building military alliances and bases throughout Europe, the Middle East, and
Asia.
As a theory, balance of power predicts that rapid changes in international power and status—
especially attempts by one state to conquer a region—will provoke counterbalancing actions. For this
reason, the balancing process helps to maintain the stability of relations between states.
A balance of power system can function effectively in two different ways. First, multiple states can
form a balance of power when alliances are fluid—that is, when they are easily formed or broken on
the basis of expediency, regardless of values, religion, history, or form of government. Occasionally a
single state plays a balancer role, shifting its support to oppose whatever state or alliance is strongest.
Britain played this role in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in its relations with
France, Russia, and Germany. Second, two states can balance against each other by matching their
increases in military capability. In the Cold War, the Soviet Union and United States both expanded
their nuclear arsenals to balance against each other.
One weakness of the balance of power concept is the difficulty of measuring power. Ultimately a
state’s power derives from the size of its land mass, population, and its level of technology. But this
potential power—measured roughly by a state’s gross domestic product (GDP)—translates imperfectly
into military capability. The effective use of military force depends on such elements as leadership,
morale, geography, and luck. Furthermore, leaders’ misperceptions can seriously distort the
calculation of power. During the Vietnam War (1959-1975), for example, U.S. presidents consistently
underestimated the strength of the Vietnamese Communists because by conventional measures of
power they were much weaker than the United States.
III
FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO WORLD WAR II
Historical examples of power balancing are found throughout history in various regions of the world,
leading some scholars to characterize balance of power as a universal and timeless principle. During
the Period of the Warring States in China (403-221
BC),
the development of large, cohesive states
accompanied the creation of irrigation systems, bureaucracies, and large armies equipped with iron
weapons. These Chinese states pursued power through a constantly shifting network of alliances. In
ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian War (431-404
BC),
the rising power of Athens triggered the
formation of a coalition of city-states that felt threatened by Athenian power. The alliance, led by
Sparta, succeeded in defeating Athens and restoring a balance of power among Greek cities.
In the 17th century the Habsburg dynasty, which ruled Austria and Spain, threatened to dominate
Europe. During the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), a coalition that included Sweden, England, France,
and The Netherlands defeated the rulers of the Habsburg Empire. Early in the 19th century, French
emperor Napoleon I repeatedly made efforts to conquer large areas of Europe. A broad coalition of
European states—including Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia—defeated France in a series of major
battles that climaxed with Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The classical European balance of power system emerged thereafter in an alliance known as the
Concert of Europe, organized in 1815 by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich. This loose
alliance between Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France ensured that a handful of great powers
would coexist, with none able to dominate the others. Under this system, and with Britain playing a
balancer role, peace largely prevailed in Europe during the 19th century. During World War II,
Germany’s rising power, aggressive conquests, and alliance with Italy and Japan triggered yet another
coalition of opposing states—notably the capitalist democracies of Britain and the United States, and
the Communist Soviet Union.
IV
IN THE NUCLEAR AGE
The Cold War standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union shaped the global balance of
power after World War II. Although an actual war between these two superpowers never occurred, the
balance of power process instead took the form of a massive arms race, in which each superpower
responded by adding to their military buildup. The possession of large arsenals of nuclear weapons by
both the United States and the Soviet Union ensured that any potential war would prove disastrous for
both. Because of the threat to human survival posed by nuclear weapons, military strategists often
referred to the balance of power as a “balance of terror.”
During the Cold War, the U.S. policy of containment encircled the Soviet Union with military and
political alliances in Western Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The major U.S. and Soviet
military interventions of the Cold War—in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan—took place in politically
contested regions of the world where both superpowers jockeyed for influence. Small states
sometimes benefited from the superpower competition. In the 1960s, for example, relations soured
between Cuba and the United States. At that time, Cuba allied itself with the Soviet Union and
received large economic and military subsidies.
V
BALANCE OF POWER TODAY
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world’s sole superpower. Balance
of power theory suggests that without the Soviet threat the United States, as the dominant world
power, will face difficulties in its relations with such states as China and the European powers. For
example, key countries such as China, Russia, France, and Germany all opposed the United States
invasion of Iraq in 2003 in diplomatic arenas such as the United Nations. Yet this opposition did not
stop the United States from acting, exposing the significant gap in military capability that now exists
between the United States and the rest of the world. Small states that fear the United States are no
longer able to join a counterbalancing coalition to protect their security. Instead, many are developing
nuclear weapons in an attempt to dramatically expand their military capability. For example, North
Korea claimed in 2003 that it was developing nuclear weapons to balance against U.S. power.
The changing nature of power in the contemporary international system further complicates the
operation of the global balance of power. Globalization, the Internet, weapons of mass destruction,
and other technological developments have made it possible for small states and even nonstate
groups to acquire significant power. These factors also dilute the relative importance of military power.
For example, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States assembled a broad
coalition to invade Afghanistan, using military force to topple the Taliban government and end the
Taliban’s support for al-Qaeda terrorists. This application of military power did not provoke a balancing
coalition of other states, but it also did not end the terrorist threat to the United States. In the future,
the balance of power may continue to operate among states engaged in prolonged disputes, but it is
less applicable to conflicts involving terrorists and other nonstate groups.
Reviewed By:
Peter Howard