[65], States choose to balance for two reasons. You take on the role of the US President or the Russian General Secretary. The Cold War ended with a whimper, not the civilization-ending "bang" some analysts predicted. [81] Buck passing, rather than joining a balancing coalition, is another tactic offensive realists point to when disputing the balance of power theory. Thomas Mowle and David Sacko describe "soft balancing" as "balancing that does not balance at all." [44], Resistance has in fact appeared and may be growing. Balance of Power. "[54] French or Chinese officials publicly denounce "hyperpower" and aspire for "multipolarity" but refrain from forming a counterbalancing coalition. Book of Secrets is the second album from British metal band Balance of Power. Rousseau defined the theoretical limit how far balance of power can be altered: "Will it be supposed that two or three potentates might enter into an agreement to subdue the rest? The clear intention actually was to be so strong that other countries had no choice but to rally to the side of the United States, concentrating all real power and freedom of action in the hands of America. Quincy Wright, "On the Application of Intelligence to World Affairs,", Rousseau, "Abstract of the Abbe de Saint-Pierres Project for the Perpetual Peace," (1761), in, Kenneth Waltz, "Globalization and American Power,", Kenneth Waltz, "Structural Realism after the Cold War,", Terry Narramore, "China and Europe: Engagement, Multipolarity and Strategy,". The Soviet Union simply chose to withdraw from the superpower competition. The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 made the concept of a European balance of power temporarily irrelevant, since the government of newly sovereign Russia initially embraced the political and economic forms favoured by the United States and western Europe. It keeps alive the traditional concept in a new unipolar world. [72], Balancing and buck passing are the main strategies for preserving the balance of power and preventing a potential hegemon's rise. Finally, a band of younger scholars, less invested professionally in the old theory, develops a new interpretation that not only explains the anomaly but places it at its theoretical center. Strong states may change a losing side into a winning side and thus are more likely to balance. One of the issues the discipline of political science "has been wrestling with recently is why there is still no anti-American coalition despite the overwhelming dominance of the United States since the end of the Cold War. A. Vasques & Colin Elman, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2003), p 7. [Under such grounds] the question of the balance of power might be dismissed from further considerations.[22]. [80] Because this resulting security dilemma would leave the aspiring hegemon less secure, defensive realists maintain that it is in a state's interest to maintain the status quo rather than maximize its power. After eliminating France the Germans had no Western front to divide their forces, allowing them to concentrate their forces against the USSR. Moorhead Wright, London: Rowman & Littlefield, 1975), p 110-112. Noting this "anomaly", Walt suggested his balance of threat hypothesis: At first glance, this result would seem to contradict the assertion that states choose alliance partners in order to balance against the strongest. 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