The Balance Of Power

The Balance Of Power
Author: Michael Sheehan
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2004-11-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1134813155

The balance of power principle has been central to both the study and practice of international politics for over 300 years. It has guided governments in the conduct of foreign policy and provided a structure for explanations of some of the recurring patterns of international relations. This study examines the various meanings given to the balance of power over the centuries and traces the historical evolution of its theory and practice through steadily more complex forms. It describes the balance principle in practice, both as a guiding light of national foreign policies and as a structural explanation of how the international system operates. The reader is provided with an understanding of the various meanings of the balance principle and the key thinkers and politicians who have influenced its development. The text presents the essence of arguments concerning the morality of the principle as a foreign policy guide and its value as a structural explanation of the fundamental reality of international relations.

Balance of Power

Balance of Power
Author: T. V. Paul
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2004
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0804750173

Since the sudden disappearance of the Soviet Union, many scholars have argued that the balance of power theory is losing its relevance. This text examines this viewpoint, as well as looking at systematic factors that may hinder or favour the return of balance of power politics.

Balance of Power in World History

Balance of Power in World History
Author: S. Kaufman
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2007-08-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 023059168X

The balance of power is one of the most influential ideas in international relations, yet it has never been comprehensively examined in pre-modern or non-European contexts. This book redresses this imbalance. The authors present eight new case studies of balancing and balancing failure in pre-modern and non-European international systems.

Europe's Classical Balance of Power

Europe's Classical Balance of Power
Author: Edward Vose Gulick
Publisher: W W Norton & Company Incorporated
Total Pages: 336
Release: 1967
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780393004137

What was the origin of the idea of the balance of power? How did European leaders apply its principles in actual practice? Widespread as the term "balance of power" has been, and vital as its principles have been in European statecraft, nevertheless study of its theory and practice has often been neglected by historians. A more complete understanding of the concept is arrived at in Edward Vose Gulick's well-knit examination of the two questions posed above. Throughout the book, the events of history and the diplomatic struggle as played out by statesmen are related to balance-of-power theory as conceived by political scientists. Europe's Classical Balance of Power brings into the spotlight of scholarly attention an idea that has demonstrated great vitality in times gone by, that has worked behind the scenes in the conclaves of power, and that, under another name, has survived to influence twentieth-century diplomacy.

Accommodating Rising Powers

Accommodating Rising Powers
Author: T. V. Paul
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2016-03-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1316473171

As the world enters the third decade of the twenty-first century, far-reaching changes are likely to occur. China, Russia, India, and Brazil, and perhaps others, are likely to emerge as contenders for global leadership roles. War as a system-changing mechanism is unimaginable, given that it would escalate into nuclear conflict and the destruction of the planet. It is therefore essential that policymakers in established as well as rising states devise strategies to allow transitions without resorting to war, but dominant theories of International Relations contend that major changes in the system are generally possible only through violent conflict. This volume asks whether peaceful accommodation of rising powers is possible in the changed international context, especially against the backdrop of intensified globalization. With the aid of historic cases, it argues that peaceful change is possible through effective long-term strategies on the part of both status quo and rising powers.

The Balance of Power

The Balance of Power
Author: Emerson M. S. Niou
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 1989-11-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780521374712

One of the fundamental issues of international relations concerns whether, and under what conditions, stability prevails in anarchic systems--systems in which all authority and institutional restraints to action are wholly endogenous. This book uses the tools provided by contemporary game theory to develop a comprehensive theory of such systems and details both necessary and sufficient conditions for stability. The authors first define two forms of stability--system and resource stability. International political systems are said to be stable when no state confronts the possibility of a loss of sovereignty. Resource stability, in contrast, requires that the current distribution of wealth and power among states can change only due to differences in the vitality of economics. The theory developed in this book refines the classic balance of power theory and formally incorporates into that theory the consideration of endogenous resource growth, preventive war, war costs, and the imperatives of geography, revealing a fundamental conflict between the concepts of "balancers" and "central powers."

The Rise And Fall of British Naval Mastery

The Rise And Fall of British Naval Mastery
Author: Paul Kennedy
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2017-01-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0141983833

Paul Kennedy's classic naval history, now updated with a new introduction by the author This acclaimed book traces Britain's rise and fall as a sea power from the Tudors to the present day. Challenging the traditional view that the British are natural 'sons of the waves', he suggests instead that the country's fortunes as a significant maritime force have always been bound up with its economic growth. In doing so, he contributes significantly to the centuries-long debate between 'continental' and 'maritime' schools of strategy over Britain's policy in times of war. Setting British naval history within a framework of national, international, economic, political and strategic considerations, he offers a fresh approach to one of the central questions in British history. A new introduction extends his analysis into the twenty-first century and reflects on current American and Chinese ambitions for naval mastery. 'Excellent and stimulating' Correlli Barnett 'The first scholar to have set the sweep of British Naval history against the background of economic history' Michael Howard, Sunday Times 'By far the best study that has ever been done on the subject ... a sparkling and apt quotation on practically every page' Daniel A. Baugh, International History Review 'The best single-volume study of Britain and her naval past now available to us' Jon Sumida, Journal of Modern History

Beyond the Balance of Power

Beyond the Balance of Power
Author: Peter Jackson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2013-12-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107039940

This is a major study of French foreign and security policy in the era of the Great War. Peter Jackson examines the interplay between contending conceptions of security based on traditional practices of power politics and the new internationalist doctrines that emerged in the late nineteenth century.

Balancing Power without Weapons

Balancing Power without Weapons
Author: Ashley Thomas Lenihan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2018-03-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1107181860

This book focuses on the non-military military means through which states intervene to balance the economic and military power of other states. Also available as Open Access.