Session 9 - Balancing vs bandwagoning

One of the main points of Kenneth waltz in his essay 'theory to international politics that I found very interesting was his theory about the balance of politics. Waltz believes that all states seek to increase their power while at the same time not wanting other states to increase in power mainly because they don't want to let any other state grow at their expense, or for their self-survival, and that balancing rather then bandwagoning exists. Which is why states will often try to stop other countries from growing. So if one state attempts to increase his power then other powerful states in the world will form a coalition to try and stop that country from gaining power.  

If we look at today's world, there are several states out there that are trying to increase their power and position in the world. One of these country is for example India. India is a country that in the recent years has one of the fastest growing economies as well as militaries in the world. It wants to increase its power and position in the position in the world and one way it can do so is by joining the UN permanent security council. A coalition of countries has joined up to ensure this does not happen. But the majority of these countries are developing nations that fear India will use this new found power to dominate them and worry about survival in place of growth.

It is not the powerful countries such as Britain and Germany that have formed a coalition to stop such an attempt by India to gain a seat in the UNSC (though I doubt they will let such an act happen). But then none of these countries have done anything to balance India's growing economy and power. France signed nuclear deals with India, Germany and Britain are signing trade deals all of which will make India grow faster and increase its power.

Continuing on India's example, several of the smaller countries that border it such as Bhutan are threatened by it but will not defy its wishes because they want to continue its existence and growth. This is an example that Shehyar Khan told about. He said that when he went to the UN, he was approached by the Bhutanese ambassador to the UN who told him that although Bhutan supports Pakistan's demands, yet they will only support Pakistan in spirit and not openly because they cannot defy India. This is a perfect example of bandwagoning.

So from above we can see bandwagoning is just as likely to exist as balancing, as opposed to waltz's view. And that powerful countries will not form a coalition to stop another state from growing because this will lead to a huge backlash, rather they might do so individually and in secret.