Balance of Power

THE BALANCE PROCESS: Two states compete with each other for influence in international relations. They aim to shape the international environment and dominate the interrelationship between states with their views and values. Put differently, they want to transfer their power to other states to become the lead nation followed by others. In this scenario, both states are relatively powerful; both enjoy vast economic power and military capabilities. However, the first state is more powerful and capable than the second. The weaker state, still a rising power, is trying to challenge the existing power order in international relations. It wants to be the dominant influence, or the next superpower that shapes the global atmosphere. The outcome of this struggle for world power is that the more powerful state exerts its military, political, and economic supremacy to limit the influence of the weaker state. In other words, it balances off its power and contains the rising state while ensuring stability in international relations. This stage, where two states finally settle their power struggle, can be called equilibrium, a balance of power.

Eugene R. Wittkopf and Charles W. Kegley believe the main aim of this theory “is the idea that peace will result when military power is distributed so that no state is strong enough to dominate the others.” The more powerful state strives to create an equilibrium of power where other states are powerful or capable but not quite as powerful as itself. The existing superpower preserves the balance of power by limiting the chances of the rising and aspiring states that desire to become predominant in international relations.

The clearest example of the concept of the balance of power can be found in the Cold War. Both sides, the Soviet Union as well as the United States, were powerful nations that acquired military capabilities that would enable them to destroy each other. Their arms built up over the years and the engagement in military alliances deterred domination by the other. The United States used its atomic weapon to defeat an enemy during World War II. Shortly after that, the Soviet Union acquired its atomic weapon and surprised the Americans with the development of a thermonuclear bomb during the 1950s. This was the beginning of an arms race. By the end of the Cold War, both countries knew about the enemy's military capabilities, the number of their long-range missiles, nuclear weapons, and number of forces. During this time, governments sought to secure their territory through traditional military strength. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the United States and the Soviet Union negotiated various arms treaties to maintain a favorable military balance. This can be seen as a classical example of a balance of power theory. The United States was the superpower born after World War II, and the Soviet Union was the rising [Page 542]power that tried to challenge the United States for world dominance. Both countries balanced off their power and engaged in military alliances that deterred the competitor away.