balance of power Flashcards
what is the focus of the alliance theory
are alliances a cause of war or peace
according to Kenneth Waltz, what are the 2 strategies for countries to balance treats
internal balancing and external balancing
what is external balancing
make external alliances with other states
what is internal balancing
build internal resources
according to Stephen Walt, what two different type of alliance behaviour states exhibit
balancing against power and balancing against threat
what is balancing against power
oppose the threat ( based on the enemy’s power ) to you along with other states ( allies)
what is balancing against treat
states will prioritize balancing against power, states will balance against ideological threat once basic security is secured, explains why coalitions tend to be overwhelming and not rationally a minimum winning coalition ( spend less possible for more benefits)
name the four causes of Stephen Walts balancing against threat
- bigger-more dangerous: aggregate power
- Geographic proximity
- offensive power
- aggressive intentions
what is bandwagoning
you join the threat ( submit so that you do not appear tp be an threat to the stronger party and hope you’re not attacked ) topically; too weak or no allies
what is a type of bandwagoning
appeasement
what is Jackal bandwagoning
side with the stronger side in other to have benefits ( offensive bandwagoning ) tends to occur at end of wars
who introduced Jackal bandwagoning
Randall schweller
who introduced buck pass
John Mearsheimer
who introduced bait and bleed
John Mearsheimer
who introduced bloodletting
John Mearsheimer
what is buckpass
a strategy to politically maneuver a threat to attack another state ( the buckcatcher )
what is an exemple of buck pass
the USSR made Germany attack France
what is bait and bleed
arrange for threats to fight each other
what is an exemple of bait and bleed
the irak- Iran war ( usa shared info )
what is bloodletting
get other states to fight each other in the long war ( conclusion of bait and bleed )
what is burden sharing
every alliance must have some agreement on the distribution of the burden
when is free-riding happen
free-riding in an alliance occurs when one alliance partner calculate that it can contributes less because other states have less of a chose
what is commitment problem
keep states form distancing or defecting from their alliances and joining the enemy, alliance must demonstrate commitment
how can the alliance demonstrate commitment
stationing troops in your ally’s territory
what is chain-ganging
if state is too committed, the state might drag allies into war against their will ( Austria-Hungary and Germany against Serbia )
what is an exemple of commitment
usa station South Korea
what is defensive chain-ganging
restrain a country form going to war that otherwise would have
how introduced chain-ganging, burden sharing, free-riding, commitment problem etc.
Glenn Snyder
what did Mancur Olson introduced
collective action problem
why states cooperating with each other becomes complex ( collective action problem )
- calculation problem ( coordination cost increase with number of states in alliances )
- free-rider problem ( tragedy of the common )
- sanctioning problem ( if state cheat, take resources to punish )
what is minimum winning coalitions
states seek to minimize cost and because of the collective action problem, will seek smallest possible alliance to seek security
who said “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”
kautilya
from with ideological realm the balance of power is from
realism
what is the balance of power
a general tendency for the weakest states to ally against the greatest threat
we can say that the balance of power brings..
stability
why do balance of power bring stability
- no single nation becomes dominant
- most of its members continue to survive
- large scale war does not occur
what does balance of power reject?
hegemonic stability theory ( no state is in economic and military domination of the worlds institutions
attempt to unify Europe
Napoleon or nazi Germany
what are the criticism of the balance of power
- problem of trade-offs between the goals of a balance of power system; war stop domination, domination system to stop war, war to prevent conquest of smaller powers, conquest to preserve the characteristic of the system
- some argue that work only on certain conditions; moderate competitive behaviour among the states, typically caused by religion or culture restraints, a norm against the annihilations of states, no impediments to the free balancing of states, such as pacifism or democracy
- the offshore balancer; balance of power is dysfunctional because requires an invulnerable neutral state to join the weaker side
- the balance of power doesn’t always work; states do unify
- balance of power applies to land warfare only
- balance of power is to explain the absence of terrestrial hegemony, not peace ( balance of power need war to work )
what is the misperception of the balance of power process
that the balance of power isnt according to the balancing principle but the bandwagoning principle so, strength attract allies, states submit, influence spreads like dominos, create spheres of influence
how do the state that believe in a bandwagoning world behave
aggressively
how do the other state react facing a aggressive state
overwhelming coalition of all other states in the system
