Balance of Power in International Relations, European and US History and Political Science Subject.

 Balance of Power in International Relations and Political Science.

Before understanding the concept of BOP, it is essential to grasp the fundamental concept of power within a state and among states. Power means possession of strength, capable of controlling the minds and actions of other men. Political power means the mutual relations of control among the holders of public authority and the people at large. Power has been the epicenter of human relations from the inception of humanity. States through national power determine their foreign policy and endeavour to promote the interests enshrined in the objecties of foreign policy. Power is a combination of knowledge, military might, and valour.  National power of a state means the ability of one state to control the behaviour of another state in accordance with one's own will. According to Hans Morgenthau, “Political power is a psychological relation bet those who exercise it and those over whom it is exercised. It gives the former control over certain actions of the latter through the influence which the former exerts over the latter’s mind.” Power plays the same role in international politics as money plays in the market. However, power occupies an important position not only as a means but also as end. Power is both the capstone among the objectives which the state pursues and the cornerstone among the methods that they employ.

Thomas Hobbes in his famous book Leviathan, described National Power as a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual desire of power until the end of life.  The concept of national power has remained a key factor for developing individual and national security since the emergence of the state. Nevertheless, the concept of National Power assumed significance following the race for acquiring

That was a time of global anarchy due to the global rivalries of European colonial countries. National power of an individual country transformed the paradigm of world rules and world was plunged into perpetual wars and destruction. National power can be appraised in terms of all the power elements within a state. A state assumes tangible and recognizable national power after consuming all indispensable elements for power.

Prior to WW1 and 11 National power was linked with military capacity.

Balance of Power

In real terms, the Balance of Power is the dynamic condition of the international system in which the distribution of military, economic, and political power prevents any one actor from achieving total domination thereby preserving relative stability through mutual restraint, competition, and adaptation.  Balance of Power in the international system means a condition or arrangement in which no single state or alliance is powerful enough to dominate or control the behaviour of others, and where power is distributed in such a way that it maintains relative stability through competition, deterrence, and alliances. In international Relations it is defined as a continuous process by which one state or group of states tries to prevent an opposing state or group of states from becoming gradually powerful or dominant in the global or regional sphere. It may be through military advancement, making alliances, exerting economic pressure, and strategic alignment. In international relations, the notion of balance of power means through shifting alliances and countervailing pressures, no one power or combination of powers will be allowed to grow so strong as to threaten the security of the rest. The balance of power is the system of maintaining such equilibrium among the states of the world as to prevent any of them from becoming sufficiently strong to impose its will upon the rest.  So long, there is this type of balance, there is peace. War is the test for the existence of disequilibrium.

Prof Fay defined it in ‘Encyclopedia of the social sciences’ as “just equilibrium in power among the members of the family of nations as will prevent any one of them from becoming sufficiently strong to enforce its will upon the others”. Thus, the concept of BOP rests on the basic assumption that excessive power anywhere in the global system is a threat to the existence of other states and that the most effective antidote to power is power. In the words of Morgenthau, “it is an actual state of affairs in which power is distributed among several nations with approximate equality.” The theory is thus an application of the checks and balances theory of domestic politics to international politics.

Prof Dr Qayum Mangi, Principal College of Superior Services, Sukkur. Sindh

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