POLI 244 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Appeasement, Neoliberalism, Counter-Insurgency
Document Summary
We are going to talk about the balance of power today. Finally, we are going to say a few things about bandwagoning, which is the strategy opposite to balancing. A situation in which power is distributed equally. Balance of power basically means a few di erent things, related, but di erent things in international relations. It refers to a situation in which power is distributed equally, this usually means material power being distributed equally amongst great powers. And, it also means a tendency of international systems, assuming they are anarchic, towards a balance and equilibrium in the distribution of power amongst the great powers in the system. This is supposed to hold in any international system; ancient greece, the middle ages, Feudalism in the 19th century europe, and today. There are two important di erences between these two meanings of the balance of power.