Concept of Balance of Power in International

Relations

In International Relations an equilibrium

of power sufficient to discourage or
present one nation or prevent one
nation from imposing its will on or
interfering with the interests of another.
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 alliance.
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.

 It is difficult to give exact definition to balance of

power because as Martin Wright says the notion is
notoriously full of confusions.
Claude also says: The trouble with the balance
power is not that it has no meaning but that it has
too many meanings essential idea is very simple
but when principle is applied to the international
relations , the concept of power means that
through shifting alliances and countervailing
pressures ,no one power or combinations of powers
will be allowed to grow so strong as to threaten the
security of the rest as per Palmer and Perkins.

 And finally Hartman explains concept of

Balance of Power in International Relations
as a system in the sense that one power
bloc leads to the emergence of other and it
ultimately leads to a network of alliances.
The concept of balance of power rests on the
assumption that excessive power anywhere
in the system is a threat to the existence of
the other units and that most effective
solution of power is Balance of power.

 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 regionwill provoke
counterbalancing actions. For this
reason, the balancing process helps
to maintain the stability of relations
between states.

A Balance of power system can functions

effectively in two different ways:

1. Multiple states can form a balance of power

when alliances are fluidthat 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.

 2. 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 armory to balance against
each other.

 One weakness of the balance of

power concept is the difficulty of
measuring power. Ultimately a states
power is derived from the size of its
land mass, population, and its level of
technology. But this potential power
measured roughly by a states 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 disfigure 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.

Balance of Power

In
international
relations,
postures and policy of nations
or group of nations protecting
itself against another nation or
group of nations by matching
its power against the power of
the other side.
states can peruse a policy of
balance of power in two ways

 By increasing their own power as when

engaging in an armament race, or
competitive acquisitions of territory ,or
by adding to their own power that of other
state as, when embarking upon a policy of
alliance.
The term balance of power came into use
to denote the power relationships in the
European states system from the end of
the Napoleonic war to world war I.

 Within the European balance of

power great Britain played the role
of balancer or holder of the
balance.
It was not permanently identified
with the policies of any European
nation and it would throw its weight
at one time on one side, on other
time on another side.

 Guided largely by one considerationthe maintenance of the balance

itself.
Naval supremacy and its virtual
immunity from foreign invasion
enabled great Britain to perform this
function , which made the European
balance of power both flexible and
stable.

 The B. power from the earlier 20th century

onward underwent drastic changes that
for all particular purpose destroyed the
European power structures as it had
existed since the end of Middle Ages.
Prior the 20th century , the political world
was composed of a number of separate
and independent B. power, such as the
European , the American , the Chinese
and the Indian .

 But the world war-I and its attended

political alignments triggered a process
that eventually culminated in the
integration of most of the worlds nations
into a single balance-of-power system .
This integrations began with the World
War-I alliance of Britain, France, Russia
and The United States against Germany
and Austria-Hungary. This integration
continued in World War-II.

Balance of Power Today

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left
the United States as the worlds 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, it tested its nukes in 2006 and lately has
claimed to have tested hydrogen bomb as well.

 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 non state 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 Talibans
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 non state groups.

 The balance of power has been a

central concept in the theory and
practice of international relations for
the past five hundred years.
It has also played a key role in some
of the most important attempts to
develop a theory of international
politics in the contemporary study of
international relations.

 Another basis for the realist theory is the

idea of a balance of power and the anarchic
nature of the global system as there is no
effective global government and the world
system is anomic
() .
This ties in well with the idea of global
relations being one of self help and each
state strives to promote its own interests at
the expense of others. In short, realists see
the global system as one of self help.

 The idea of the balance of power is

put in place to explain the situation
where states will ally themselves to
prevent the hegemony of one state
over all others. 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.