Political 205 Class 4 Balance of Power

Question 1

what are the two strategies that states can use to strength themselves against external threats ?

Answer 1

1.Internal Balancing: build internal resources (weapons) ex: US WW2
2.External Balancing (external alliances with other states) ex: NATO Cold War

Question 2

How is the decline of power measured ?

Answer 2

Loss of Strength Gradient
ex Decline of Soviet union 20th century

Question 3

what are the 2 two types of different of alliances behaviour?

Answer 3

1. Balancing against power (oppose to threats) ex: For example, during the Cold War, the formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) by Western countries was a collective effort to balance against the power and influence of the Soviet Union. engaged in internal balancing.
2. balance against threat. ex: he Gulf War coalition in 1990-1991 was formed in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, with states collectively balancing against the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Question 4

what are the 4 causes of balancing against threat

Answer 4

1. aggregate power: bigger more dangerous
2. geographic proximity
3. offensive power
4. aggressive intentions , more important than simply power
   ex: Cold War

Question 5

what is bandwagoning?

Answer 5

join the threats (summit) Bandwagoning in the Gulf War: Regional states aligning with the United States and Western powers to counteract the threat posed by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

Question 6

what are the 3 strategies of Banwagoning

Answer 6

1. BuckPass: strategy to politically manoeuvre a threat to attack another state (Buckcather) ex: Munich Agreement
2. Bait and bleed: arrange for threats to fight of each other. ex: Iran Iraq War 1980-88
   Bloodletting: get other states to fight of each other in longways. ex: Proxy Wars during Cold War

Question 7

what are the various mechanism that alliances have

Answer 7

1. Burden Sharing (hoe do you balance burden) ex: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Operations
2. Free Riding or buck-passing (less contibution) ex: Alliance Against ISIS (2014-2017)
3. commitment problem (demonstration of commitment) ex: Treaty of Versailles (1919)
4. chain ganging (drag state into war against it choosing) ex: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1914)
5. defensive chainganging (restrain country from going to war, that would not have been) ex: Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

Question 8

what are the implications of collective action problem ?

Answer 8

1. Calculation problem (cost increase nb of states in alliances) ex: Coalition Against Saddam Hussein (1990-1991)
   2.free rider problem (cheating) ex: NATO Alliance Defense Spending
   3.scantionning problem (no rational incentive cause is undermined by CAP ex: North Korea’s Nuclear Program

Question 9

who said the quote “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”

Answer 9

Kautilya
ex: WW2 Allies of Convenience. The Soviet Union and the Western Allies had significant ideological differences and had been wary of each other before the war. However, the common threat posed by the Axis powers led them to set aside their differences and form a temporary alliance against a mutual enemy. The principle of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” was evident in the cooperation between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union during specific phases of World War II.

Question 10

what does the balance of power theory argues

Answer 10

weaker states ally together against greatest emerging treaty to system. Alway an equilibrium and domination in the system. ex: concert of Europe

Question 11

what is the stability definition in balance of power

Answer 11

1. no single nation is dominant
2. most of its member continue to survive
3. that large scale wars do not occurs
   ex: concert of Europe

Question 12

what are the criticisms of balance of power?

Answer 12

1. war to stop domination of system ex: WW2
2. domination to stop war: Pax Romana ex: (27 BCE - 180 CE)
3. war to prevent conquest of smaller power ex: Korean War (1950-1953)
4. conquest to perverse characteristic of the system ex: Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)

Question 13

what is the offshore balancer

Answer 13

its is a critic of the system because it argue that in order for balance of power to work an invulnerable neutral sate such as England must join the weaker side. ex: U.S. Role in European Affairs (19th Century). During the Crimean War (1853-1856) between Russia and an alliance of France, Britain, and the Ottoman Empire, the United States maintained a policy of non-intervention in European affairs.

Question 14

what are the 4 problems of bandwagoning

Answer 14

1. strength attracts allies ex: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) during the Cold War
2. states to submit through bandwagoning ex: Axis Powers in World War II
3. influence spreads like dominos ex: Soviet Influence in Eastern Europe after World War II
4. creates spheres of influence ex: The Cold War and the Iron Curtain