BALANCE OF POWER, A NEW VISION OF THE 21st CENTURY
BALANCE OF POWER, A NEW VISION OF THE 21st CENTURY

Author(s): Auraș Liviu COMAN
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Carol I National Defence University Publishing House
Keywords: anarchy; international relations; the power of balance; belt of ruins;
Summary/Abstract: The theoreticians in international relations have a remarkable ambiguity not only in the meaning of the balance of power but also in the expected results of operating a successful balance of power system. What is the final promise of the balance of power theory? The aim or purpose of the balance of power is not the maintenance of international peace and stability, as many critics of the theory have inaccurately affirmed. It is rather to preserve the integrity of the multi-state system, preventing any ambitious state from absorbing its neighbors. I believe that states should not trust the exaggerated power that threatens all members of the international system. The danger is when a great power manages to gain more than half of the system's total resources and thus to be in a position to subdue the rest.

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