BALANCE OF POWER

“One has to behave as friend or foe according to the circumstances” – Thucydides

1. Definition of Balance of Power Doctrine of Theory

A situation in which the military capabilities of two states or group of states are roughly equal

2. Introduction
 As a doctrine or theory ‘Balance of Power’ approach is usually attributed to American thinker
Hans Morgenthau (Realist) who maintained that National Security is enhanced when military
capabilities are distributed among states

 Realism provides the dominant lens through which the dynamics of alliances and their impacts
on global security are more often interpreted

 The core idea of balance of power theory is that distribution of military power or capabilities
dissuaded a single state to dominate others

3. Methods, Devices of Balance of Power

 Divide and Rule

 Armament

 Alliances

 Compensations

4. Basic Assumption of Theory

A. Status Quo is preserved

B. Counter Balance maintains international peace and stability

C. State Sovereignty doesn’t collapse into universal empire

D. Alliances play a key role

5. Rules
 Self-Vigilant

 Seek allies

 Remain flexible in making alliances

 Be charitable in victory; victor must not eliminate the defeated

 Be with underdog not top dog

6. Offshore Balancing
 A strategic concept used by the realists to describe a strategy in which a greater power uses
regional allies to check the rise of potentially hostile powers

 Example: Indo – US nexus, US – South Korea, Taiwan Cooperation to contain China

7. Passing the Buck

 It involves the tendency of nation states to refuse to confront a growing threat in the hope that
another state will.

 Example: 1930 – Refusal of UK, USA and France to confront Nazi Germany – passing the buck to
soviet union who signed the non-aggression pact with Germany and returned back to Europe

8. Soft Balancing
 A recent addition to Balance of Power Theory used to describe non-military form of balancing
evident since the end of cold war

 A situation existed after Iraq War when power used international institutions, economic
statecraft and diplomatic arrangements to check US hegemony

9. Band Wagoning
 A strategy employed by the states that find themselves in a week position

 Example: US – EU relations while dealing with Kosovo or Yugoslavia Crisis

10. Internal Balancing

 Under Bipolarity Developing one’s own military and economic power

11. External Balancing

 Under multi-polarity great powers will greater opportunities for external balancing by aligning
with allies

12. Conclusion
 A checkered history of Balance of Power

 A self-adjusting Process

 21st Century Balance of Power: Sino – Russian cooperation to check or counter balance US’s
hegemony