Balance of power systems

2010 ◽  
pp. 76-96
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Balance Of Power

Alliance Behavior in Balance of Power Systems: Applying a Poisson Model to Nineteenth-Century Europe

1975 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 859-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. McGowan ◽  
Robert M. Rood
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
International System ◽  
Poisson Model ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Alliance Formation ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
System A ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
International Systems ◽  
Verbal Model

This paper is a partial systematic test of Morton A. Kaplan's “theory” of alliance behavior in balance of power international systems first proposed in his well-known System and Process in International Politics (1957). Three hypotheses are inferred from Kaplan's writings predicting that in a stable balance of power system, (a) alliances will occur randomly with respect to time; (b) the time intervals between alliances will also be randomly distributed; and (c) a decline in systemic alliance formation rates precedes system changing events, such as general war. We check these hypotheses by applying probability theory, specifically a Poisson model, to the analysis of new data on fifty-five alliances among the five major European powers during the period 1814–1914. Because our research questions are so general, our findings should not be regarded as definitive; however, the data very strongly support our hypotheses. We conclude that Kaplan's verbal model of a balance of power international system has had its credibility enhanced as a result of this paper.

Alliance Behavior in Balance-of-Power Systems

1977 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 1047-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Partha Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Balance Of Power

Multipolar Power Systems and International Stability

1964 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl W. Deutsch ◽  
J. David Singer
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Diplomatic History ◽  
Central Position ◽  
Classical Literature ◽  
International Stability ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Power Concept

In the classical literature of diplomatic history, the balance-of-power concept occupies a central position. Regardless of one's interpretation of the term or one's preference for or antipathy to it, the international relations scholar cannot escape dealing with it. The model is, of course, a multifaceted one, and it produces a fascinating array of corollaries; among these, the relationship between the number of actors and the stability of the system is one of the most widely accepted and persuasive. That is, as the system moves away from bipolarity toward multipolarity, the frequency and intensity of war should be expected to diminish.

Of Systems, Boundaries, and Territoriality: An Inquiry into the Formation of the State System

1986 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich Kratochwil
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Conflict Management ◽  
International System ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The State ◽  
State System ◽  
Spheres Of Influence ◽  
Territorial Rights ◽  
Boundary Characteristics ◽  
Buffer States

The author explores the changing functions of boundaries in territorially and nonterritorially based social organizations. By focusing on the exchanges that boundaries mediate, a fuller account can be given of the systems characteristics in which the units interact than is afforded by traditional systems theory. Two case studies demonstrate that imperial boundaries differ significantly from those in the state system. Boundaries are shown to be the major means for conflict management in the international system. The author also investigates shifts in the location of the boundary, characteristics of balance-of-power systems, and the restriction and expansion of the exchanges that boundaries allow through the bundling or unbundling of territorial rights. Most of the latter devices that gave rise to spheres of influence, buffer states, suzerainties, and so forth have been overtaken by events, but functional regimes and spheres of influence based upon tacit rather than explicit rules remain important.

From Balance to Concert: A Study of International Security Cooperation

1985 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Jervis
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
International Security ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Grand Coalition ◽  
Security Cooperation ◽  
Security Dilemma ◽  
Up States ◽  
International Anarchy ◽  
Timely Warning

International anarchy and the security dilemma make cooperation among sovereign states difficult. Transformations of balance-of-power systems into concerts tend to occur after large antihegemonic wars. Such wars undermine the assumptions supporting a balance-ofpower system and alter the actors' payoffs in ways that encourage cooperation. The logic developed in “Cooperation under the Security Dilemma” holds: largely because of the increased costs that will be incurred if the grand coalition breaks up, states have greater incentives to cooperate with each other, fewer reasons to fear the consequences of others' defections, and fewer reasons to defect themselves. Cooperation is further facilitated by mechanisms that increase each state's ability to see what others are doing, and to gain “timely warning” of the possibility that the others will defect.

The place of the balancer in balance of power theory

1989 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sheehan
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Power Theory ◽  
Specific Study ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Function

Although, as the quotations above indicate, the question of the importance of the ‘balancer’ in balance of power systems has generated strong opinions from both critics and proponents, it has never stimulated a specific study of the balancer. The picture of the balancer as it currently exists has to be obtained by abstracting descriptions of the balancer role from general writings on the balance of power. This is unfortunate for even those authors like Padelford and Lincoln who saw the balancer role as critical, failed to devote more then a few paragraphs to the topic. The aim of this paper therefore is to try to clarify the nature and function of the balancer by synthesizing the views of analysts of the role over the past three centuries to produce a paradigm of the balancer strategy.

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