The Balance of Power How the Theory Works

The Balance of Power: How the Theory Works There are five slides to this series. Each represents a different combination of the attributes that make a country powerful.The attributes are military power, education, government structure, level of economic development, size and homogeneity of the population, and the number of alliances a state enters. We have arbitrarily assigned only two values to every attribute: less and more, or 3 and 5. Military power thus divides into two kinds: a military force that is composed primarily of men under arms and conventional weapons, and a military force that is oriented towards the latest weapons technology The educational variable also divides into two: only elementary education; elementary and secondary education. Countries with a more educated population tend to exercise more power in the world The government variable divides between non-democratic countries, some kind of dictatorship, and democratic or pluralistic countries. The economy logically divides into developing economies and developed economies. Under population the two categories are under 900,000 and 900,00 or more. India and China fall into the second category. In the real world, most of the other states fall into the first category. The final variable is alliances: under or over five. In the real world, countries that have been isolated for long periods of time or have few alliances, like North Korea, Afghanistan, or Iraq, tend to exercise less power than those states that establish alliance networks with many countries.

Activities In slide 4, Country B is the most powerful and it forms alliances with the two other most powerful states, Country A and C. Countries D, E and F are thus left in a very vulnerable position, rather at the mercy of what A, B, C want to do, if the three states can agree on an agenda. (The balance of the scales favors the A.B. and C alliance.) In slide 5, the scales are equally balanced. There is no dominating power. A, B, and C are sufficiently equal in the various power factors to form a strong alliance, while Country D leads a slightly weaker alliance of D, E and F. These slides represent only a very few of the many possible alliance combinations that the six countries could form given their varying strengths on the 6 power factors on each slide. Take any one slide. Study the relative strengths of each country on that slide and make your own combinations. Can you reach a balance of power by adding a country to one side of the scales and taking that country away from the other side? What kinds of different combinations result in differing kinds of alliances, some stronger, some weaker? Explain. In slide 1, countries A and D are the most powerful and as you can see, each forms its own alliance set. Why is country D the most powerful? What must Country A do to equal the power of Country D?. Why is the alliance formed by D stronger than that formed by Country A? (The scales tip in favor of the D alliance system.) In slide 2 Country B and Country C are the most powerful. In this case, B and C ally together and thus form a very powerful, almost invincible alliance. (The balance of the scales tip in their favor What do you think the attitude of that alliance would be to the weaker alliance of countries D, E, and F? In slide 3, although Country D is the most powerful, Countries E and B are about equal and could rival D for power if they allied. But Country D has persuaded E to ally with it, leaving B in the weaker alliance. (Scales tip against B.)

Models of Possible Alliances in the World - 1 : Allied countries: A+B+C vs. D+E+F Calculation: A+B+C = 28+22+20 = 70 D+E+F = 30+26+20 = 76

Models of Possible Alliances in the World - 2 Allied countries: A+B+C vs. D+E+F Calculation: A+B+C = 20+30+24 = 74 D+E+F = 18+18+18 = 54

Models of Possible Alliances in the World - 3 Allied countries: A+B+C vs. D+E+F Calculation: A+B+C = 24+26+20 = 70 D+E+F = 30+26+20 = 76

Models of Possible Alliances in the World - 4 Allied countries: A+B+C vs. D+E+F Calculation: A+B+C = 24+30+26 = 80 D+E+F = 22+24+20 = 66

Models of Possible Alliances in the World - 5 Allied countries: A+B+C vs. D+E+F Calculation: A+B+C = 24+22+20 = 66 D+E+F = 26+22+18 = 66